This article makes some good points, but is incorrect on some others.
In particular the statement " It is very, very rare for knowledge of a protein’s structure to be any sort of rate-limiting step in a drug discovery project!" does not reflect the realities of drug discovery.
Knowing a protein's structure, and its structure when complexed with ligands/drugs, is a massively important bit of data in the armoury of medicinal chemists, which Derek Lowe knows all too well.
Of course, it may be that knowing which protein to target is more important, and that problem isn't affected by AlphaFold.
In particular the statement " It is very, very rare for knowledge of a protein’s structure to be any sort of rate-limiting step in a drug discovery project!" does not reflect the realities of drug discovery.
Knowing a protein's structure, and its structure when complexed with ligands/drugs, is a massively important bit of data in the armoury of medicinal chemists, which Derek Lowe knows all too well.
Of course, it may be that knowing which protein to target is more important, and that problem isn't affected by AlphaFold.