Which of the following is part of the discovery stages and strategies?

• A. Define target; Define lead; Optimize lead; Prove safety and efficacy
• B. Screen thousands of compounds; Manufacture at scale; Market
• C. Identify disease; Preclinical testing; Phase I trials
• D. Patent filing; Regulatory submission; Marketing

Answer: (B)

Discovery stages and strategies focus on exploring chemical space to find potential drug candidates. Screening thousands of compounds is the quintessential activity here because it directly generates initial hits from a large library, which is the starting point for identifying lead compounds to optimize. The other options mix in steps that belong to later phases: manufacturing at scale, marketing, preclinical safety testing, early clinical trials, regulatory submissions, and commercialization. Those elements occur after a viable candidate has been identified and moved into development. So the choice that highlights screening a vast number of compounds best captures the core discovery activity.