Glossary of Search Terms
Anatomical Therapeutic Class Codes (ATC Code): The Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification system (ATC) divides drugs into groups according to the organ or system they act on and their chemical, pharmacological, and therapeutic properties. ATC codes are searchable in some pharmaceutical databases on DIALOG.
BAN: British Approved Name.
CAS® Registry Number (RN=): a unique number given to every chemical by the American Chemical Society, used to search for a specific chemical in some Dialog databases.
Chemical Structure: A graphical, precise image of the molecular structure showing how the atoms are arranged. Most of the pharmaceutical pipeline databases on Dialog provide chemical structures available for searching.
Clinical Indications: proposed uses for which approved labeling will be sought.
European Pharmaceutical Market Research Association (EPhMRA): the association that developed the anatomical therapeutic classification scheme used by Pharmaprojects and IMS databases. Each provider has made changes to the modified scheme.
A field is a distinct part or section of a record. Typical fields in drug development databases include drug name, company name, therapeutic class code and status. Check the Bluesheet since fields vary according to the database.
Hill Order: molecular formula written as carbon first, if present; then hydrogen, if present; then all other elements in alphabetical order.
INN: International Nonproprietary Name. Generic Name
Laboratory Code: assigned by a research laboratory when a chemical is undergoing investigation
Licensee (/LI, LI=): shows the company that entered into an agreement with the originator of the drug and the status of the drug.
Licensor: the company that entered into an agreement with the originator of the drug and the status of the drug.
Molecular Code: unique code number assigned to each drug entry in the IMS database
Nomenclature: indicates the propriatory names given to a particular drug
Non-proprietary name: Generic Name.
Originator ( /CO, CO=): the company that originally developed the drug, the country of origin, and the status of the drug.
Patent assignee: the person or entity who owns the patent rights.
Patent Family: a group of equivalent patents granted in several countries for the same invention as a result of applications in those countries, and usually citing priority applications in common.
Pharmacological Action: describes how a drug works. Vocabulary used to describe how a drug works often differs from file to file and may even vary within the same database.
Pharmacokinetics: distribution of a drug in the body and the rates of biotransformation. Kinetics information includes half-life, absorption, distribution, excretion, metabolism and analysis of body fluid levels.
Priority Patent Number: patent that issues from a priority patent application.
Substance Origin: a description of the chemical origin of a drug.
Therapeutic Class Code: identifies general medical applications under investigation or broadly defined conditions targeted for treatment.
USAN: U.S. Adopted Name.
USP Dictionary of Drug Names: An alphabetical listing of all U.S. adopted drug names along with cross references and complete physical nomenclatures.
World Health Organization (WHO): assigns International Nonproprietary Names (INNs)
