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Target Validation Ladder

Category: Science & Research  ·  Sub-category: research-methods  ·  Last updated:
Grade the human-genetic validation of a drug target on a causality-ranked evidence ladder (Mendelian/rare-variant > coding GWAS+colocalization > Mendelian randomization > non-coding GWAS), scoring direction-of-effect concordance, tractability, and on-target safety read-across. Produces a 0-13 composite tier from Open Targets, the Genetic Priority Score, gnomAD constraint, and a cis-MR/PheWAS scan. Activate when assessing whether a target hypothesis is genetically supported, before mechanism-risk or PoS modeling, when screening an early-discovery asset, or when learning what separates a PCSK9-class target from a hopeful GWAS hit.
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From the source SKILL.md

Target choice is the highest-leverage decision in drug development: roughly 90% of clinical programs fail, and the largest share of Phase II/III failures is lack of efficacy — the target hypothesis was wrong, not the molecule. Human genetics is the only widely-validated tool that shifts the prior on efficacy before any clinical data exist, because a genetic variant is a natural, lifelong, randomized perturbation of the target in humans. Targets with genetic support have ~2.6x higher relative success across the pipeline (Minikel, Painter, Dong & Nelson, Nature 629:624, 2024), refining the…

What this skill does

Target Validation Ladder is a community-contributed Claude Code skill in the research-methods sub-category. It ships as a SKILL.md file that Claude Code auto-discovers under ~/.claude/skills/target-validation-ladder/ and loads when your prompt matches the skill's trigger.

Who uses this skill

The Target Validation Ladder Claude Code skill is built for researchers, data scientists, academics, and analysts working with complex data and scientific literature. It's part of ClaudSkills (also referred to as Claude Skills or Claude Code Skills) — the open community-curated registry of 168,000+ SKILL.md files for Anthropic's Claude Code agent and the wider Claude ecosystem (Claude API, Claude Agent SDK).

How to install

Free

Manual install (2 steps)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/target-validation-ladder
curl -L https://claudskills.com/skills/target-validation-ladder/SKILL.md \
  -o ~/.claude/skills/target-validation-ladder/SKILL.md

Or just download SKILL.md directly and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/target-validation-ladder/. Claude Code auto-discovers it on next session.

Skills live at ~/.claude/skills/target-validation-ladder/SKILL.md on macOS/Linux, or %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\target-validation-ladder\SKILL.md on Windows. See the full install guide for step-by-step instructions.

Telegram

📱 Install from your phone or desktop Telegram

Open @claudskills_bot on Telegram, tap Open Desktop App, and the desktop app installs this skill for you. Or share the bot link with a colleague — they get the same one-tap install. Learn more →

Pro

One-click install via the desktop app

The ClaudSkills desktop app installs any skill directly into ~/.claude/skills/ with one click — no terminal required. Pro starts at $9/mo or $149 lifetime.

Pro

For the full experience including quality scoring and one-click install features for each skill — upgrade to Pro.

See pricing → Download desktop app

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the Target Validation Ladder Claude Code skill?
Install via the ClaudSkills desktop app (one click) or copy SKILL.md from the source repository to ~/.claude/skills/target-validation-ladder/SKILL.md and restart Claude Code. Both flows are detailed at claudskills.com/install/.
What does the Target Validation Ladder skill do?
Grade the human-genetic validation of a drug target on a causality-ranked evidence ladder (Mendelian/rare-variant > coding GWAS+colocalization > Mendelian randomization > non-coding GWAS), scoring direction-of-effect concordance, tractability, and on-target safety read-across. Produces a 0-13 composite tier from Open Targets, the Genetic Priority Score, gnomAD constraint, and a cis-MR/PheWAS scan. Activate when assessing whether a target hypothesis is genetically supported, before mechanism-risk or PoS modeling, when screening an early-discovery asset, or when learning what separates a PCSK9-class target from a hopeful GWAS hit.
Is this skill free to install?
Yes. ClaudSkills is an open registry — every skill keeps its source repository's license, and manual install via copy is free. ClaudSkills Pro ($9/mo, $79/yr, or $149 one-time) adds one-click install via the desktop app and a multi-signal Quality Score.
When should I use the Target Validation Ladder skill?
Use Target Validation Ladder when your Claude Code task falls under the Science & Research category — specifically in the research methods area. Claude Code auto-discovers installed skills and invokes the right one based on the task description, so you can also ask Claude directly (e.g. "use Target Validation Ladder" or describe the task and let Claude pick). Browse related skills at /category/science/.
What is a Claude Code skill and how does the Target Validation Ladder skill fit in?
A Claude Code skill is a SKILL.md file that lives under ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ and tells the Claude Code CLI agent how to perform a specific task (instructions, prompts, allowed tools). Skills are auto-discovered at session start. Target Validation Ladder is one of 67,000+ skills indexed in the open ClaudSkills catalog, classified under the Science & Research category. Learn more at /learn/what-is-a-claude-skill/.

Attribution & license

Cite this skill

If you reference this skill in a blog post, paper, or documentation, you can cite it as:

APA
npbuilds. (2026). Target Validation Ladder [Claude Code skill]. ClaudSkills. https://claudskills.com/skills/target-validation-ladder/
BibTeX
@misc{target-validation-ladder-2026,
  author    = {npbuilds},
  title     = {Target Validation Ladder [Claude Code skill]},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {ClaudSkills},
  url       = {https://claudskills.com/skills/target-validation-ladder/}
}

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Grade A · scanned 2026-07-31 — free static scan against the OWASP Agentic Skills Top 10.

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