ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Lipinski's Rule of 5

Lipinski's rule of 5 is a set of rules to help scientists and researchers predict if a drug or chemical compound might be a good candidate to use in medical treatments. It's named after Christopher Lipinski, a chemist who came up with the rules back in 1997.

Basically, the rule of 5 states that a drug or chemical compound should have no more than 5 of these 4 things:
1. No more than 5 atoms of carbon
2. No more than 10 atoms of hydrogen
3. No more than 1 atom of nitrogen
4. A molecular weight of no more than 500 g/mol

So, if a drug or compound has more than 5 atoms of carbon, or more than 10 atoms of hydrogen, or more than 1 atom of nitrogen, or a molecular weight of more than 500 g/mol, then it's not a good candidate for medical treatments.