Completed Chemistry Cells, Biochemistry & Physiology

The ChEMBL database

Funder Wellcome Charity-funded
Recipient organisation European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Funding £1.5M
Period Jul 2020 — Jun 2023

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Since 2008, the ChEMBL database has given any researcher in the world free access to the same drug-discovery data that was once locked inside large pharmaceutical companies. Drug discovery is expensive and fails often, partly because scientists lack the raw data needed to build better computational models or understand why a promising drug candidate fails. ChEMBL fills that gap by acting as a public repository for data on bioactive molecules—the chemical compounds that interact with biological systems. This proposal aims to expand the database’s coverage, improve how data is organised so it meets FAIR standards (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable), and add better disease annotations. It also plans to upgrade the web interface and release open-source software tools. If successful, the project will strengthen a piece of critical infrastructure that quietly underpins much of modern drug discovery. Researchers anywhere—from a small university lab to a charity-funded institute—will have a richer, more reliable dataset to work with, potentially accelerating the development of new medicines for unmet medical needs.

View original technical description
Drug discovery is a very challenging and expensive activity with a low success rate. Access to relevant, quality data is critical to enable the success of drug discovery projects which will deliver the new medicines that address unmet medical need. Large collections of data are also key to improving the overall drug discovery process, for example by developing computational models or understanding the causes of attrition. Traditionally, only those working in large pharmaceutical companies have had access to significant amounts of drug discovery data. That situation changed dramatically in 2008 when the Trust funded the development of the ChEMBL database as an open-access, public repository of data on bioactive molecules. This proposal aims to build upon the success of ChEMBL as a key community resource, with further goals of expanding our data coverage; improving the organisation of our data to ensure full FAIR compliance including improved disease annotations; enhanced data access via our web interface, workflows and tools; and improved sustainability of our infrastructure including a streamlined release process and open source software tools.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Andrew Leach (EPMC Awardee)Anna Gaulton (EPMC Awardee)

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Original classification

Biomedical Resources Grant

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.