Term
Mechanism of action
How a drug produces its effect: the target it acts on and what it does to that target.
A mechanism of action names the biological lever: inhibiting an enzyme, blocking or activating a receptor, neutralizing a cytokine, silencing a gene. Drugs sharing a mechanism form a class, which is why a mechanism is the natural unit for comparing competitors: same lever, same race, different molecules.
This site tracks each drug's sourced mechanism and groups the class on a mechanism page, with an explanation of the pathway. Where no authoritative source states a mechanism, the page says so rather than guessing; an undisclosed mechanism is a fact worth stating, not a blank to fill.
On this site: Browse mechanisms ↗
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