The ChEMBL bioactivity database: an update

Abstract

ChEMBL is an open large-scale bioactivity database (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chembl), previously described in the 2012 Nucleic Acids Research Database Issue. Since then, a variety of new data sources and improvements in functionality have contributed to the growth and utility of the resource. In particular, more comprehensive tracking of compounds from research stages through clinical development to market is provided through the inclusion of data from United States Adopted Name applications; a new richer data model for representing drug targets has been developed; and a number of methods have been put in place to allow users to more easily identify reliable data. Finally, access to ChEMBL is now available via a new Resource Description Framework format, in addition to the web-based interface, data downloads and web services.

Figure 1.

Frequency distribution for approved drugs, showing the number of years taken for a drug to be approved after a USAN was assigned to it.

Figure 2.

For rapid visual comparison, the ChEMBL interface displays a set of icons that summarize features of the chemical compound/ingredient (green icons) as well as any marketed products (blue icons).

Figure 3.

Screen capture showing enhancements to the ChEMBL Target Report Card. The Target Components section shows which proteins are components of this target (in this case members of the protein family), whereas the Target Relations section shows other targets that are related to this one because they share one or more of those components. The Approved Drugs section shows that there are approved products that are believed to exert at least part of their efficacy through inhibition of phosphodiesterase 4.