The IUPAC International Chemical Identifier (InChI) algorithm is now well established as a powerful means of denoting the basic chemical structure of a well-defined, small (<1024 atoms) organic molecule as a unique machine-readable character string, suitable for electronic data storage, searching, and exchange. The IUPAC Division VIII InChI Subcommittee is now starting work on a complete overhaul of the InChI algorithm, i.e. the beginning of plans for a second version of InChI. A crucial part of this work is intended to address the known shortcomings of the current InChI algorithm pertaining to the handling (or lack thereof) of various types of biological substances. Chemically modified sequences are becoming very important in life science research both as tools and as products. Chemically modified biologics range from siRNA sequences, established therapeutics such as Levimir and Byetta for diabetes, to the growing area of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). There is currently no standard approach for the naming of chemically modified biologics; this constitutes a tremendous opportunity for InChI to become established as the naming technology.
For more information, contact the Task Group Chair Keith Taylor <Keith.Taylor@accelrys.com>
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