How does medicine work? How are new drugs made? What role does the pharmaceutical industry play? Professors Stefan Knapp and Chas Bountra work in the field of drug discovery. They joined Science Oxford talks in spring 2013. Society is increasingly desperate for novel medicine. Most drugs used today were developed more than 40 years ago. With our ageing population, the incidence of diseases such as dementia, cardiovascular disease, and cancer will increase exponentially over the coming years.