Comparative Evaluation Of Freely Available Chemical Structure Drawing Softwares

Various Chemical Structure Drawing Softwares are available on the internet for free download and use for academic and research purposes. Some of these softwares namely ACD/ChemSketch 10.0, Draw It, BKchem 0.12.0, MolWorks 2.0 were downloaded with their supplement literature and evaluated on the basis of salient features with an aim to assess their features comparatively for their uses in academics and research in chemistry. The features included in the studies are drawing of chemical structures, Main menu and menu tiles, drawing of bonds and numbering, drawing operations, drawing of glassware and assemblies, name to drawn structure, determination of physicochemical properties, 2D to 3D conversion of structures, pasting of structures, cleaning the structure and special features. Teachers in academic institutions may adopt these softwares for academic and research purposes. A thorough knowledge of these softwares may be provided to students either in chemistry practical or in some workshop or computer application practicals.

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IMPORTANT FREE ACCESS DATABASES

US FDA DATABASES

Electronic Orange Book

The Online Electronic Orange Book is an online database of approved drug products with therapeutic equivalence evaluations as per US FDA. It provides timely consumer information on generic drugs. It is updated daily as new generic approvals occur. Search facilities for active ingredient, application holder, proprietary name, application number and patent
The Orange Book annual addition, current cumulative supplement, monthly additions and deletions are available at FDA website at http://www.fda.gov/cder/orange/default.htm and at http://www.fda.gov/cder/ob/docs/preface/eclink.htm

Drugs@FDA

Drugs@FDA allows searching official information about FDA approved brand name and generic drugs and therapeutic biological products.
The main uses of Drugs@FDA are:
• finding labels for approved drug products
• finding generic drug products for a brand name drug product
• finding therapeutically equivalent drug products for a brand name or generic drug product
• finding consumer information for drugs approved from 1998 on
• finding all drugs with a specific active ingredient
• viewing the approval history of a drug

Inactive Ingredient Database

The Inactive Ingredients Database provides information on inactive ingredients present in FDA-approved drug products. This information can be used by industry as an aid in developing drug products. For new drug development purposes, once an inactive ingredient has appeared in an approved drug product for a particular route of administration, the inactive ingredient is not considered new and may require a less extensive review the next time it is included in a new drug product.

DMF Database

This site contains lists of Drug Master Files (DMFs) as well as information concerning submission of DMFs.

EAFUS: Food Additive Database

The EAFUS list of substances contains ingredients added directly to food that FDA has either approved as food additives or listed or affirmed as GRAS. Nevertheless, it contains only a partial list of all food ingredients that may in fact be lawfully added to food, because under federal law some ingredients may be added to food under a GRAS determination made independently from the FDA. The list contains many, but not all, of the substances subject to independent GRAS determinations.

EDQM (EUROPEAN DIRECTORATE OF FOR THE QUALITY OF MEDICINES AND HEALTHCARE) DATABASES

Knowledge

Knowledge is a searchable database of information on a given substance or general method of analysis.

European Pharmacopoeia Reference Standards

Search through continuously updated database for information on European Pharmacopoeia reference standards.

ISA WHO International Standards

This database contains information on WHO International Standards for Antibiotics (ISA).

Certification

Search Certification database for information on Certificates of Suitability (CEPs) granted by the EDQM.

Melclass

Database on the legal classification of medicines as regards their supply: conditions and details of prescription status.

CLINICAL TRIALS INFORMATION

ClinicalTrials.gov is a registry of federally and privately supported clinical trials conducted in the United States and around the world. ClinicalTrials.gov gives you information about a trial's purpose, who may participate, locations, and phone numbers for more details.

PATENT DATABASES

US Patent and Patent Application Database

Database with US Patents issued from 1975 until present.

European Patent Database

Search Worldwide, WIPO and European Patents from a single location.

Japanese Patent Abstracts Database

Get English abstracts of Japanese patents.

PATENTSCOPE Database of WIPO

This service provides access to published PCT international applications and to the latest bibliographic data and documents contained in the files of PCT international applications. Due to changes in the PCT Regulations and to the availability of documents in electronic form, the information available is different depending on the date of filing of the international application. This facility allows you to search PCT patent applications and to view the latest information and documents available to the International Bureau.