There are as many undiscovered drugs as stars in the sky, researchers say

Through continued clinical drug trials it may be possible to greatly increase the number of available medications for sale at Canadian internet pharmacies and other suppliers. A new study estimates that scientists have only synthesized one-tenth of 1 percent of the possible pharmaceuticals.

Researchers reported in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience that the number of possible drug formulations could be equal to the number of stars in the Universe. They projected a total of 1 novemdecillion remaining possibilities. That is 1 million billion billion billion billion billion billion undiscovered drugs.

While it is difficult for anyone to get their head around the scale of the number of possible drug formulations, new discoveries are possible. Computing power continues to increase at exponential rates. This could help researchers narrow down the list of chemical combinations that may be useful to human health.

By using advanced computing systems to identify the chemical formulations that are most likely to lead to useful medications researchers may be more likely to produce new drugs and take these products to clinical trials. This process could lead to new treatments for many conditions.