June 1, 2011 (Vol. 31, No. 11)
URL:
http://drugbank.ca
Rating:
Strong Points: Many browse options, different classes of drugs
Weak Points: Nothing major
Summary:
If you have any interest in pharmaceuticals, then you can “bank” on the fact that you’ll find DrugBank to be a fantastic resource. Of the “molecule-target interaction” variety, DrugBank is different from many of the other databases out there in its emphasis on pharmaceutical data. It contains FDA-approved biotech (protein/peptide) drugs, FDA-approved small molecule drugs, and a large number of experimental drugs. Together, these categories represent over 10,000 entries. As useful as it is to search databases, I always appreciate an option to browse. DrugBank, in fact, gives me (and you!) six such options: browse by drug name, therapeutic category, interacting gene/enzyme, pathway, chemical class, or association (target, enzyme, carrier, or transporter). For each compound, general chemical information is provided in addition to taxonomy, pharmacology, pharmacoeconomics, references, drug interactions, and targets.
