MDL Relational Chemistry Server Selected by Derwent; Chemical Data Cartridges Enable Searching and Registering Reactions and Molecules in Oracle Databases

Business Wire, May 30, 2002

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. & LONDON--(BW HealthWire)--May 30, 2002

MDL(R) Information Systems, Inc. (MDL), the leader in discovery informatics for chemistry and the life sciences, announced today that Derwent Information, a leading patent and scientific information provider, has selected MDL(R) Relational Chemistry Server (formerly ISIS/Direct) to power both its internal development efforts and its chemical structure service, Derwent Discovery(TM).

MDL(R) Relational Chemistry Server is a robust family of server products that uses advanced data cartridge technology. It will enable software developers at Derwent to design and deploy sophisticated systems that manage fully relational molecule structure databases within Oracle(R) databases. By enabling Derwent developers to build cheminformatics applications using standard relational database tools and SQL syntax, MDL(R) Relational Chemistry Server will streamline the development of applications for managing molecule structures, ultimately enabling scientists and researchers to search chemical data and structures much more efficiently in an open Oracle(R) database environment.

"Derwent Discovery provides subscription-based access to a range of pharmaceutical databases containing new chemical entities, structures, and drawings, combined with extensive patent classification and indexing for our customers," said Shirley Bailey-Wood, director of chemistry and life sciences at Derwent Information Ltd. "By supporting a highly integrated information network built in the Oracle(R) database environment, MDL(R) Relational Chemistry Server will enable Derwent's clients to achieve better, faster retrieval in relational molecule databases."

Lars Barfod, executive vice president and chief business officer at MDL, stated: "By enabling scientists to search and register both molecule and reaction data in Oracle, MDL(R) Relational Chemistry Server provides a solid foundation for an integrated database environment. Exploiting this new technology will allow the development of many exciting and valuable applications at Derwent."

MDL(R) Relational Chemistry Server is an essential element in MDL(R) Discovery Framework, which is the MDL core technology supporting integrated discovery informatics solutions in a superior research environment. The molecule cartridge is fully read/write compatible with MDL(R) ISIS (Integrated Scientific Information System), the most widely deployed chemical representation and search system in the life science and chemical industries. For molecule structure searching, MDL(R) Relational Chemistry Server supports 2D and 3D exact and substructure searches, similarity, formula, Rgroup, Sgroup data, polymer, and mixture searches, including MDL's flexmatch operator -- a powerful and highly tunable query tool for several common types of structural matching. MDL(R) Relational Chemistry Server also supports reaction substructure and exact reaction searches.

About Derwent Information Limited

Derwent Information is the world's leading patent and scientific information provider. Derwent helps top Life Science and Chemical companies stay ahead of their competitors by providing them with key technical, scientific, and business information drawn from patents, research journals, and conference proceedings. Derwent products, including the unrivalled Derwent Discovery(TM), Derwent GENESEQ(TM) and Derwent World Patents Index(R), are invaluable for monitoring competitor activity, saving R&D resources, keeping up-to-date with trends, generating new revenue sources, and managing patent portfolios. Derwent is part of The Thomson Corporation.

About MDL

Over 1,000 life science companies supercharge their discovery engines with MDL software solutions to generate fresh ideas and make breakthrough discoveries. By synchronizing and streamlining the sharing and management of vital information and knowledge, we enable scientists to work more efficiently and invent drugs faster. This saves time, money, and lives. In support of our customers and the momentous challenges they face, everything we do must be reliable, resourceful, innovative, and insightful. We are an international business headquartered in San Leandro, CA with offices worldwide. MDL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Elsevier Science, Inc. For more information, visit www.mdl.com.

MDL is a registered trademark in the United States and ISIS/Direct and "Powering the Process of Invention" are trademarks of MDL Information Systems, Inc., U.S. registration pending. Derwent is a registered trademark and Derwent Discovery is a trademark of Derwent Information Limited. Thompson is a registered trademark and trademark of the Thompson Corporation and its affiliated companies. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other company and/or product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners in the United States and other countries. All rights reserved.