| name | chembl | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| description | Small-molecule drug lookup by exact drug name or ChEMBL ID. Query MUST be a single drug name or ID — 1 to 3 words maximum. Valid examples: 'sotorasib', 'imatinib', 'ibrutinib', 'CHEMBL25', 'AMG 510'. If the topic is 'sotorasib KRAS G12C', the correct query is 'sotorasib'. If the topic is 'BTK inhibitors in CLL', search PubMed first to get a specific drug name, then query ChEMBL with that name. Strip protein names, mutation labels, and mechanism words — pass only the compound name. | ||
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Query the ChEMBL database for drug-like molecules, drug targets, and bioactivity data. ChEMBL is EBI's open database of drug discovery and medicinal chemistry.
ChEMBL searches by molecule name. Always use a specific drug name or compound identifier (e.g. sotorasib, ibrutinib, CHEMBL1873475). Do NOT pass topic phrases like "kinase inhibitor resistance" — these will return garbage results. If the topic mentions multiple drugs, pick the most specific one.
Do NOT use ChEMBL when the query is any of the following — it will return large biologics, cell therapy entries, or protein records with MW=?, logP=?, phase=-1:
- Biological therapies: cell therapies, stem cells, antibodies, CAR-T, biologics (e.g. "allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells", "anti-PD1 antibody")
- Mechanism or concept phrases: "proximity-induced degradation", "PROTAC linker", "covalent warhead", "undruggable target"
- Disease names without a specific drug: "Alzheimer's disease", "pancreatic cancer", "KRAS oncogenesis"
- Pathway or process terms: "mTOR signaling", "ubiquitin-proteasome pathway", "kinase cascade"
Correct workflow for mechanism-based topics (e.g. PROTAC, degrader, proximity):
- Search PubMed first with the mechanism query
- Extract specific small-molecule compound names from the papers (e.g. "ARV-110", "dBET6", "MZ1")
- Then query ChEMBL with those specific names
- Search molecules by name or ChEMBL ID
- Retrieve molecular properties, SMILES, drug indications
- Find targets and bioactivity (IC50, Ki, etc.)
- No API key required
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/chembl_search.py --query "aspirin"python3 {baseDir}/scripts/chembl_search.py --chembl-id CHEMBL25python3 {baseDir}/scripts/chembl_search.py --query "imatinib" --format detailedpython3 {baseDir}/scripts/chembl_search.py --query "kinase inhibitor" --max-results 5| Parameter | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
--query |
Compound or drug name or search term | - |
--chembl-id |
ChEMBL molecule ID (e.g. CHEMBL25) | - |
--max-results |
Max results for search | 10 |
--format |
Output: summary, detailed, json | summary |
- Summary: ChEMBL ID, pref_name, molecular formula, MW, SMILES, max_phase
- Detailed: Adds drug type, first approval, indications, targets
- JSON: Full API response
- ChEMBL IDs look like CHEMBL25, CHEMBL1234567
- Use --query for name or text search
- Use --chembl-id when you know the exact molecule ID