Elsevier

Drug Discovery Today

Volume 23, Issue 9, September 2018, Pages 1596-1609
Drug Discovery Today

Review
Keynote
When fragments link: a bibliometric perspective on the development of fragment-based drug discovery

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drudis.2018.05.004Get rights and content
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open access

Highlights

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    Through bibliometrics, we identify core papers and subdisciplines in FBDD research.

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    FBDD’s emergence was enabled by the transfer of knowledge from academia to industry.

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    Network analysis shows that university-industry collaborations have grown over time.

Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) is a highly interdisciplinary field, rich in ideas integrated from pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry, biology, and physics, among others. To enrich our understanding of the development of the field, we used bibliometric techniques to analyze 3642 publications in FBDD, complementing accounts by key practitioners. Mapping its core papers, we found the transfer of knowledge from academia to industry. Co-authorship analysis showed that university–industry collaboration has grown over time. Moreover, we show how ideas from other scientific disciplines have been integrated into the FBDD paradigm. Keyword analysis showed that the field is organized into four interconnected practices: library design, fragment screening, computational methods, and optimization. This study highlights the importance of interactions among various individuals and institutions from diverse disciplines in newly emerging scientific fields.

Cited by (0)

Angelo K.S. Romasanta is an early-stage researcher at the Marie Curie ITN FragNet based at the Chemistry & Pharmaceutical Sciences Department at VU University Amsterdam. Within the division of Science, Business and Innovation, he is studying how companies in the pharmaceutical industry absorb and apply external knowledge from academia and other firms. He is a graduate of the Erasmus Mundus Master in Chemical Innovation and Regulation Program under the consortium of the University of Barcelona, University of Algarve, and University of Bologna.

Peter van der Sijde is a professor of organization, entrepreneurship & technology in the Department of Science, Business & Innovation at VU University Amsterdam, and has a background in social sciences. His research and teaching is focused on (academic) entrepreneurship and technology transfer.

Iina Hellsten is an associate professor in social sciences at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) at the University of Amsterdam. She has expertise in communication networks, science and technology studies (STS), and scientometrics.

Jacqueline E. van Muijlwijk-Koezen is a professor in innovation in human health and life sciences at VU University Amsterdam. Her group aims to apply the theory of science education within the context of human health and life sciences. Her research focuses on innovations and didactics in science and education, with special emphasis in pharmaceutical sciences and drug discovery research as embedded within the Amsterdam Institute for Molecules, Medicines and Systems. Research on new teaching concepts and innovative learning approaches lead to new insights that are implemented in the various study programs of the Faculty of Science.

Iwan J P. de Esch is a professor in medicinal chemistry at VU University Amsterdam and head of the Chemistry & Pharmaceutical Sciences Department. His work focuses on two research lines: G-protein-coupled receptors and fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD). He has co-founded several academic spin-out companies, including De Novo Pharmaceuticals, Griffin Discoveries, and IOTA Pharmaceuticals.

© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.