Valliappan Kannappan

“As the molecular world grows more intricate, so do the challenges in regulating and understanding chirality.” Introduction While the 1990s and 2000s solidified regulatory frameworks for simple chiral drugs -classic single stereocenter, stable enantiomers –science has since moved into more complex territory. Today, pharmaceutical innovation increasingly deals with molecules featuring multiple stereocenters, dynamic chirality, axial chirality (atropisomerism), and stereochemical instability. These new realities stretch the existing regulatory and scientific paradigms developed for simpler chiral systems. …

Episode 9: Challenges on the Horizon: Complex Chirality and Emerging Scientific Questions Read More »

“Approving a drug is only half the journey. The true story unfolds where science, ethics, commerce, and access collide.” Introduction Chirality reshaped regulatory science and drug development -but its impact extends far beyond the laboratory and approval desk. The commercialization of single-enantiomer drugs, especially through chiral switches, has raised important ethical and economic debates about innovation, access, affordability, and equity. In this episode, we delve into the ethical dilemmas and economic strategies tied to chiral …

Episode 8: Beyond the Approval: Ethical and Economic Dimensions of Chiral Drugs Read More »

“Science, ethics, and clinical outcomes converge at a difficult question -does the purer mirror image truly heal better?” Introduction The development of single-enantiomer drugs has been heralded as a leap forward in pharmacotherapy, promising greater efficacy, reduced side effects, and more predictable pharmacokinetics. But as the pharmaceutical industry increasingly embraced chiral switches and single-enantiomer innovations, an important clinical question arose: Are single enantiomers always better than their racemic predecessors? In this episode, we critically examine …

Episode 7: Clinical Questions: Are Single Enantiomers Always Better? Read More »

“When a drug transforms from a blend to a single hand, is it innovation -or a clever commercial sleight of hand?“ Introduction The regulatory awakening around chiral drugs enabled not just better science but also a new strategic tool for the pharmaceutical industry: the chiral switch. This phenomenon -developing a single-enantiomer version of an already marketed racemate -became both a scientific opportunity and a commercial strategy. While some switches were genuine innovations that improved patient …

Episode 6: The Rise of the Chiral Switch: Strategy or Science? Read More »

Tagline: “When two mirror images offer different paths, how do regulators choose which one should become medicine?” Introduction The rise of regulatory consciousness around chiral drugs in the 1990s opened a crucial new question:If mirror-image molecules behave differently, how should the pharmaceutical industry -and regulators -decide which enantiomer to develop, approve, and market? This episode explores how regulatory agencies like the FDA, EMA, PMDA, CDSCO, and TGA crafted expectations for the development, approval, and control …

Episode 5: Choosing the Right Twin: Regulatory Expectations for Single Enantiomers Read More »

Tagline: “When scientific precision sharpened, so did regulatory vision -technology became the bridge between molecules and medicine.” Introduction The regulatory awakening around chiral drugs in the 1990s did not occur in isolation. It was powered, almost inevitably, by remarkable scientific and technological breakthroughs. Before sophisticated tools existed, distinguishing and isolating enantiomers was labor-intensive, error-prone, and prohibitively expensive. It was the advent of new chemical, analytical, and bioanalytical technologies that made the regulatory demands for stereochemical …

Episode 4: Technology as Catalyst: How Science Enabled the Regulatory Transformation Read More »

“Science may be universal, but regulation wears many faces. Let’s journey through the world of chiral drug approval across continents.” Introduction The 1990s witnessed a revolutionary shift in the regulatory treatment of chiral drugs, spurred by major agencies like the U.S. FDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA). However, the global regulatory landscape was -and still is -far from homogeneous. While scientific consensus around the importance of stereochemistry has largely been achieved, regulatory expectations, procedural details, …

Episode 3: Beyond Borders: Comparing How Global Agencies Regulate Chiral Drugs Read More »