Information requirements for chemists in the pharmaceutical industry

The principal information needs of chemists in the pharmaceutical industry center around a substance, methods used for its characterization, its reactions, its physicochemical and biomedical properties, and its metabolic fate in biological media. Novelty searches for a specific chemical are critical because of the need for patent protection for product candidates. Chemical relatives are important, necessitating substructure searching. Therapeutic neighbors may give insight into its biological mode of action. The phases of drug discovery and development are used to indicate the diversity of the information needs of chemists and to emphasize the dual process of generation and use of information.