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Introduction

Welcome to the DrugBank API! You can use our API to access DrugBank API endpoints, which can get information on drugs, drug products, and drug interactions in our database.

The DrugBank API is organized around REST. Our API has predictable, resource-oriented URLs, and uses HTTP response codes to indicate API errors. We use built-in HTTP features, like HTTP authentication and HTTP verbs, which are understood by off-the-shelf HTTP clients. JSON is returned by all API responses, including errors, although our API libraries convert responses to appropriate language-specific objects.

You can view code examples in the dark area to the right, and you can switch the programming language of the examples with the tabs in the top right.

Authentication

To authorize, use this code:

# With cURL, you can just pass the correct header with each request
curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/endpoint' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Make sure to replace myapikey with your development or production API key.

DrugBank uses API keys to allow access to the API. To request an API key please contact us.

All API requests must be made over HTTPS. Calls made over plain HTTP will fail. API requests without authentication will also fail.

DrugBank expects for the API key to be included in all API requests to the server in a header that looks like the following:

Authorization: myapikey

Production Key

Your production key is the authentication token you receive upon sign up. This key does not have a limit in regards to the amount of calls you can make. Any API calls that exceed your quota (if applicable) will be permitted but counted as overage.

Development Key

A development key is a second API key which, unlike the production key, caps the number of allowed requests at 3000 requests/month.

The request limit is to meant to prevent runwaway programs from making calls that exceed your expected usage during the development process. The development key should be kept secret and only be shared with your developers in order to ensure that if a mistake happens during programming, it can be fixed without affecting the production key.

Token Authentication

To get a token that expires in 12 hours, use this code:

curl -L -X POST 'https://api.drugbank.com/v1/tokens' \ 
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey' \ 
-H 'Cache-Control: no-cache' -d '{
  "ttl": 12
}'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

{
  "token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJrZXlfaWQiOjk5MiwiZXhwIjoxNjY1NjA2Njg1fQ.Pj6WqT7cC_2D4su6DUVxusUh24zbY6r0WB7bWB2lH4s"
}

The following will request a token that expires in 15 minutes:

curl -L -X POST 'https://api.drugbank.com/v1/tokens' \ 
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey' \ 
-H 'Cache-Control: no-cache' -d '{
  "ttl": "15m"
}'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

{
  "token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJrZXlfaWQiOjk5MiwiZXhwIjoxNjY1NjA2Njg1fQ.Pj6WqT7cC_2D4su6DUVxusUh24zbY6r0WB7bWB2lH4s"
}

To authorize a request using an API token, use this code:

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/v1/endpoint' 
-H 'Authorization: Bearer mytoken'

To authorize a browser-based request using an API token, use this code:

const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
const url = 'https://api-js.drugbank.com/v1/endpoint';

xhr.open('GET', url);
xhr.setRequestHeader('Authorization', 'Bearer mytoken');
xhr.send();

Alternatively you can use tokens to get access to the DrugBank APIs. Tokens allow short term access to DrugBank API without exposing your secret API key. They are guaranteed to expire within 24 hours. The use of token authentication is required for accessing DrugBank APIs from browser-based applications.

Token life time

The default expiry of a token is 24 hours after it was created. The lifetime of a token can be set with the ttl parameter on creation. When set, the ttl is the number of hours the token is valid for, with a maximum of 24 hours. If no unit is given, the ttl is assumed to be in hours. The value can also be sent as a string with a unit attached (“m” for minutes or “h” for hours). A ttl of “15m” will request a token that expires in 15 minutes.

Web browser-based application API authentication

Web browser-based applications are permitted to access the DrugBank APIs through:

https://api-js.drugbank.com

All API calls, as described in this documentation, are identical – with the exception of the web address and the authentication method. Token based authentication is required to access the web compatible API.

It is recommend that tokens for use in your web browser-based applications are generated from an internal service that you can authenticate your users against. This way your secret key is not exposed and you can control who has access to your DrugBank subscription.

Pagination

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs?page=2' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey' -v
...
< Link: <https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs?page=3&per_page=50>; rel="next",https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs?page=1&per_page=50>; rel="prev"
< X-Total-Count: 8221
< X-Per-Page: 50
...

Many API endpoints in the DrugBank API support pagination. Furthermore, to ensure quick response times, it is enabled by default for these endpoints.

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
per_page 50 Number of results per page. Any value outside of 1-50 will result in a Bad Request error.
page 1

Response Headers

Header Description
Link URLs for the next, and prev pages, in the standard Link header format.
X-Total-Count Total number of results available.
X-Per-Page Number of results returned per page.

Errors

The DrugBank API uses conventional HTTP response codes to indicate the success or failure of an API request. In general, codes in the 2xx range indicate success, codes in the 4xx range indicate an error that failed given the information provided (e.g., a required parameter was omitted), and codes in the 5xx range indicate an error with DrugBank servers (these are rare).

The DrugBank API uses the following error codes:

Error Code Meaning
400 Bad Request – Your request is invalid
401 Unauthorized – Your API key is wrong
403 Rate Limit Exceeded – The API is rate limited to 100 requests per second, per client. Try again later.
404 Not Found – The specified resource could not be found
405 Method Not Allowed – You tried to access a resource with an invalid method
406 Not Acceptable – You requested a format that isn’t json
410 Gone – The resource requested has been removed from our servers
500 Internal Server Error – We had a problem with our server. Try again later.
503 Service Unavailable – We’re temporarially offline for maintanance. Please try again later.

Content Types

Response Body

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs.json' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey' -H 'Accept: application/json'

In the DrugBank V1 API, response format will default to JSON. At the moment, this is the only format available. To specify JSON format, you can set the Accept header to Accept: application/json. You can also use the .json file extension to specify that json encoding is desired.

Request Headers

Header Description
Accept Requested MIME type of response.

Response Headers

Header Description
Content-Type MIME type of the response body.

Request Body

curl -L -X POST "https://api.drugbank.com/v1/ddi" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H 'Authorization: myapikey' \
-H "Cache-Control: no-cache" -d '{
  "ndc": ["0143-9503", "0056-0173"],
  "drugbank_id": ["DB00503", "DB01221", "DB00331", "DB00819"],
  "product_concept_id": ["DBPC0024484", "DBPC0085378"]
}'

For API calls which use a POST request to send data to the DrugBank API (such as when finding drug-drug interactions with mixed input), the request must set an appropriate Content-Type header.

Request Headers

Header Description
Content-Type MIME type of request body.

Drugs

Get a specific drug

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs/DB00316' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

{
  "drugbank_id": "DB00316",
  "name": "Acetaminophen",
  "cas_number": "103-90-2",
  "annotation_status": "complete",
  "type": "Small Molecule",
  "groups": [
    "Approved"
  ],
  "availability_by_region": [
    {
      "region": "ca",
      "max_phase": 4,
      "marketed_prescription": true,
      "generic_available": true,
      "pre_market_cancelled": false,
      "post_market_cancelled": false
    },
    {
      "region": "eu",
      "max_phase": 4,
      "marketed_prescription": false,
      "generic_available": false,
      "pre_market_cancelled": true,
      "post_market_cancelled": false
    },
    "..."
  ],
  "description": "Acetaminophen (paracetamol), also commonly known as _Tylenol_, is the most commonly taken analgesic worldwide and is recommended as first-line therapy ...",
  "simple_description": "A medication used to reduce fever and treat pain.",
  "clinical_description": "An analgesic drug used alone or in combination with opioids for pain management, and as an antipyretic agent.",
  "synonyms": [
    "4-(Acetylamino)phenol",
    "4-acetamidophenol",
    "..."
  ],
  "pharmacology": {
    "indication_description": "In general, acetaminophen is used for the treatment of mild to moderate pain and reduction of fever...",
    "pharmacodynamic_description": "Animal and clinical studies have determined that acetaminophen has both antipyretic and analgesic effects...",
    "mechanism_of_action_description": "According to its FDA labeling, acetaminophen's exact mechanism of action has not been fully established[Label] - despite this, it is often categorized ...",
    "absorption": "Acetaminophen has 88% oral bioavailability and reaches its highest plasma concentration 90 minutes after ingestion...",
    "protein_binding": "The binding of acetaminophen to plasma proteins is low (ranging from 10% to 25%), when given at therapeutic doses.[Label]",
    "volume_of_distribution": [
      "Volume of distribution is about 0..."
    ],
    "clearance": [
      "Adults: 0.27 L/h/kg following a 15 mg/kg intravenous (IV) dose.[Label]",
      "Children: 0.34 L/h/kg following a 15 mg/kg intravenous (IV dose).[Label]"
    ],
    "half_life": "The half-life for adults is 2...",
    "route_of_elimination": "Acetaminophen metabolites are mainly excreted in the urine...",
    "toxicity_description": "LD50 = 338 mg/kg (oral, mouse); LD50 = 1944 mg/kg (oral, rat)[F4133]\r\n\r\n**Overdose and liver toxicity** \r\n\r\nAcetaminophen overdose may be manifested by..."
  },
  "food_interactions": [
    "Avoid alcohol. Alcohol may increase the risk of hepatotoxicity.",
    "Take with or without food. The absorption is unaffected by food."
  ],
  "identifiers": {
    "drugbank_id": "DB00316",
    "inchi": "InChI=1S/C8H9NO2/c1-6(10)9-7-2-4-8(11)5-3-7/h2-5,11H,1H3,(H,9,10)",
    "inchikey": "RZVAJINKPMORJF-UHFFFAOYSA-N",
    "atc_codes": [
      {
        "code": "N02BE71",
        "title": "paracetamol, combinations with psycholeptics",
        "combination": true
      },
      {
        "code": "N02BE01",
        "title": "paracetamol",
        "combination": false
      },
      "..."
    ]
  },
  "therapeutic_categories": [
    {
      "drugbank_id": "DBCAT000041",
      "name": "Analgesics",
      "mesh_id": "D000700",
      "mesh_tree_numbers": [
        "D27.505.696.663.850.014",
        "D27.505.954.427.040"
      ],
      "atc_code": "N02",
      "atc_level": 2,
      "synonyms": [
        "Agents, Analgesic",
        "Analgesic Agents",
        "..."
      ],
      "description": "Compounds that show activity in animal models of human PAIN such as tail flick and hot plate assays."
    },
    {
      "drugbank_id": "DBCAT003661",
      "name": "Miscellaneous Analgesics and Antipyretics",
      "mesh_id": null,
      "mesh_tree_numbers": [],
      "atc_code": null,
      "atc_level": null,
      "synonyms": [],
      "description": null
    }
  ]
}

This endpoint retrieves a specific drug based on DrugBank ID.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs/<ID>

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The DrugBank ID of the drug to retrieve.

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description

include_references

false If true, includes the list of references for this drug. See References for details.

Get products linked with a drug

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs/DB00316/products' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "ndc_product_code": null,
    "originator_ndc_product_code": null,
    "dpd_id": "02236871",
    "ema_product_code": null,
    "ema_ma_number": null,
    "name": "(extra Strength) Acetaminophen, Caffeine & 8mg Codeine Phosphate Caplets",
    "prescribable_name": "Acetaminophen 500 mg / Caffeine 15 mg / Codeine phosphate 8 mg Oral Tablet",
    "started_marketing_on": "1998-07-22",
    "ended_marketing_on": "2002-07-31",
    "approved_on": null,
    "schedule": "Narcotic (CDSA I)",
    "dosage_form": "Tablet",
    "route": "Oral",
    "application_number": null,
    "generic": false,
    "otc": false,
    "approved": true,
    "country": "Canada",
    "mixture": true,
    "allergenic": false,
    "cosmetic": false,
    "vaccine": false,
    "ingredients": [
      {
        "name": "Codeine",
        "drugbank_id": "DB00318",
        "strength": {
          "number": "8",
          "unit": "mg"
        }
      },
      {
        "name": "Acetaminophen",
        "drugbank_id": "DB00316",
        "strength": {
          "number": "500",
          "unit": "mg"
        }
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "therapeutic_categories": [
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT000041",
        "name": "Analgesics",
        "mesh_id": "D000700",
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [
          "D27.505.696.663.850.014",
          "D27.505.954.427.040"
        ],
        "atc_code": "N02",
        "atc_level": 2,
        "synonyms": [
          "Agents, Analgesic",
          "Analgesic Agents",
          "..."
        ],
        "description": "Compounds that show activity in animal models of human PAIN such as tail flick and hot plate assays."
      },
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT003635",
        "name": "Anorexigenic Agents & Respiratory and CNS Stimulants",
        "mesh_id": null,
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [],
        "atc_code": null,
        "atc_level": null,
        "synonyms": [],
        "description": null
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "labeller": {
      "name": "Stanley Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Vita Health Products Inc."
    }
  }
]

This endpoint retrieves a list of products linked to a drug, based on DrugBank ID. This endpoint supports pagination.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs/<ID>/products

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The DrugBank ID of the drug to retrieve the linked products.

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
include_simple_desc false If set to true, include simple descriptions for the product ingredients.
include_clinical_desc false If set to true, include clinical descriptions for the product ingredients.

Get a list of drugs by ID

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs?ids=DB00316,DB00002' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "drugbank_id": "DB00316",
    "name": "Acetaminophen",
    "cas_number": "103-90-2",
    "annotation_status": "complete",
    "type": "Small Molecule",
    "groups": [
      "Approved"
    ],
    "availability_by_region": [
      {
        "region": "ca",
        "max_phase": 4,
        "marketed_prescription": true,
        "generic_available": true,
        "pre_market_cancelled": false,
        "post_market_cancelled": false
      },
      {
        "region": "eu",
        "max_phase": 4,
        "marketed_prescription": false,
        "generic_available": false,
        "pre_market_cancelled": true,
        "post_market_cancelled": false
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "description": "Acetaminophen (paracetamol), also commonly known as _Tylenol_, is the most commonly taken analgesic worldwide and is recommended as first-line therapy ...",
    "simple_description": "A medication used to reduce fever and treat pain.",
    "clinical_description": "An analgesic drug used alone or in combination with opioids for pain management, and as an antipyretic agent.",
    "synonyms": [
      "4-(Acetylamino)phenol",
      "4-acetamidophenol",
      "..."
    ],
    "pharmacology": {
      "indication_description": "In general, acetaminophen is used for the treatment of mild to moderate pain and reduction of fever...",
      "pharmacodynamic_description": "Animal and clinical studies have determined that acetaminophen has both antipyretic and analgesic effects...",
      "mechanism_of_action_description": "According to its FDA labeling, acetaminophen's exact mechanism of action has not been fully established[Label] - despite this, it is often categorized ...",
      "absorption": "Acetaminophen has 88% oral bioavailability and reaches its highest plasma concentration 90 minutes after ingestion...",
      "protein_binding": "The binding of acetaminophen to plasma proteins is low (ranging from 10% to 25%), when given at therapeutic doses.[Label]",
      "volume_of_distribution": [
        "Volume of distribution is about 0..."
      ],
      "clearance": [
        "Adults: 0.27 L/h/kg following a 15 mg/kg intravenous (IV) dose.[Label]",
        "Children: 0.34 L/h/kg following a 15 mg/kg intravenous (IV dose).[Label]"
      ],
      "half_life": "The half-life for adults is 2...",
      "route_of_elimination": "Acetaminophen metabolites are mainly excreted in the urine...",
      "toxicity_description": "LD50 = 338 mg/kg (oral, mouse); LD50 = 1944 mg/kg (oral, rat)[F4133]\r\n\r\n**Overdose and liver toxicity** \r\n\r\nAcetaminophen overdose may be manifested by..."
    },
    "food_interactions": [
      "Avoid alcohol. Alcohol may increase the risk of hepatotoxicity.",
      "Take with or without food. The absorption is unaffected by food."
    ],
    "identifiers": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00316",
      "inchi": "InChI=1S/C8H9NO2/c1-6(10)9-7-2-4-8(11)5-3-7/h2-5,11H,1H3,(H,9,10)",
      "inchikey": "RZVAJINKPMORJF-UHFFFAOYSA-N",
      "atc_codes": [
        {
          "code": "N02BE71",
          "title": "paracetamol, combinations with psycholeptics",
          "combination": true
        },
        {
          "code": "N02BE01",
          "title": "paracetamol",
          "combination": false
        },
        "..."
      ]
    },
    "therapeutic_categories": [
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT000041",
        "name": "Analgesics",
        "mesh_id": "D000700",
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [
          "D27.505.696.663.850.014",
          "D27.505.954.427.040"
        ],
        "atc_code": "N02",
        "atc_level": 2,
        "synonyms": [
          "Agents, Analgesic",
          "Analgesic Agents",
          "..."
        ],
        "description": "Compounds that show activity in animal models of human PAIN such as tail flick and hot plate assays."
      },
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT003661",
        "name": "Miscellaneous Analgesics and Antipyretics",
        "mesh_id": null,
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [],
        "atc_code": null,
        "atc_level": null,
        "synonyms": [],
        "description": null
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "drugbank_id": "DB00002",
    "name": "Cetuximab",
    "cas_number": "205923-56-4",
    "annotation_status": "complete",
    "type": "Biotech",
    "groups": [
      "Approved"
    ],
    "availability_by_region": [
      {
        "region": "ca",
        "max_phase": 4,
        "marketed_prescription": true,
        "generic_available": false,
        "pre_market_cancelled": false,
        "post_market_cancelled": false
      },
      {
        "region": "eu",
        "max_phase": 4,
        "marketed_prescription": true,
        "generic_available": false,
        "pre_market_cancelled": false,
        "post_market_cancelled": false
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "description": "Cetuximab is a recombinant chimeric human/mouse IgG1 monoclonal antibody that competitively binds to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and compet...",
    "simple_description": "A medication used to treat various cancers, including cancer of the head and neck and colorectal cancer.",
    "clinical_description": "An endothelial growth factor receptor binding fragment used to treat colorectal cancer as well as squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.",
    "synonyms": [
      "Cetuximab",
      "Cétuximab",
      "..."
    ],
    "pharmacology": {
      "indication_description": "Cetuximab indicated for the treatment of locally or regionally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in combination with radiation ther...",
      "pharmacodynamic_description": "Cetuximab is an anticancer agent that works by inhibiting the growth and survival of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-expressing tumour cells wi...",
      "mechanism_of_action_description": "The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a transmembrane glycoprotein and a type I receptor tyrosine kinase expressed on both normal and malignan...",
      "absorption": "After administration of a 400 mg/m<sup>2</sup> initial dose followed by a 250 mg/m<sup>2</sup> weekly dose, the steady-state levels of cetuximab was re...",
      "protein_binding": "There is no information available.",
      "volume_of_distribution": [
        "The volume of the distribution is about 2-3 L/m<sup>2</sup> and is independent of dose.[L30448]"
      ],
      "clearance": [
        "In patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, the estimated clearance rate was 0..."
      ],
      "half_life": "After administration of a 400 mg/m<sup>2</sup> initial dose followed by a 250 mg/m<sup>2</sup> weekly dose, the mean half-life for cetuximab was approx...",
      "route_of_elimination": "There is limited information available.",
      "toxicity_description": "The intravenous LD<sub>50</sub> is > 300 mg/kg in mice and > 200 mg/kg in rats..."
    },
    "food_interactions": [],
    "identifiers": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00002",
      "inchi": null,
      "inchikey": null,
      "atc_codes": [
        {
          "code": "L01FE01",
          "title": "cetuximab",
          "combination": false
        }
      ]
    },
    "therapeutic_categories": [
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT000024",
        "name": "Antineoplastic Agents",
        "mesh_id": "D000970",
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [
          "D27.505.954.248"
        ],
        "atc_code": "L01",
        "atc_level": 2,
        "synonyms": [
          "Agents, Anticancer",
          "Agents, Antineoplastic",
          "..."
        ],
        "description": "Substances that inhibit or prevent the proliferation of NEOPLASMS."
      },
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT003244",
        "name": "Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Antagonist",
        "mesh_id": null,
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [],
        "atc_code": null,
        "atc_level": null,
        "synonyms": [],
        "description": null
      }
    ]
  }
]

This endpoint retrieves a list of drug records based on DrugBank IDs.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs?ids=<ids>

URL Parameters

Parameter Default Description
ids null A comma separated string of DrugBank IDs to retrieve records for.

Drug Searching

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs?q=name:acetaminophen+AND+products:tylenol' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "hits": [
      {
        "field": "synonyms",
        "value": "<em>Acetaminophen</em>"
      },
      {
        "field": "name",
        "value": "<em>Acetaminophen</em>"
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "drugbank_id": "DB00316",
    "name": "Acetaminophen",
    "cas_number": "103-90-2",
    "annotation_status": "complete",
    "type": "Small Molecule",
    "groups": [
      "Approved"
    ],
    "availability_by_region": [
      {
        "region": "ca",
        "max_phase": 4,
        "marketed_prescription": true,
        "generic_available": true,
        "pre_market_cancelled": false,
        "post_market_cancelled": false
      },
      {
        "region": "eu",
        "max_phase": 4,
        "marketed_prescription": false,
        "generic_available": false,
        "pre_market_cancelled": true,
        "post_market_cancelled": false
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "description": "Acetaminophen (paracetamol), also commonly known as _Tylenol_, is the most commonly taken analgesic worldwide and is recommended as first-line therapy ...",
    "simple_description": "A medication used to reduce fever and treat pain.",
    "clinical_description": "An analgesic drug used alone or in combination with opioids for pain management, and as an antipyretic agent.",
    "synonyms": [
      "4-(Acetylamino)phenol",
      "4-acetamidophenol",
      "..."
    ],
    "pharmacology": {
      "indication_description": "In general, acetaminophen is used for the treatment of mild to moderate pain and reduction of fever...",
      "pharmacodynamic_description": "Animal and clinical studies have determined that acetaminophen has both antipyretic and analgesic effects...",
      "mechanism_of_action_description": "According to its FDA labeling, acetaminophen's exact mechanism of action has not been fully established[Label] - despite this, it is often categorized ...",
      "absorption": "Acetaminophen has 88% oral bioavailability and reaches its highest plasma concentration 90 minutes after ingestion...",
      "protein_binding": "The binding of acetaminophen to plasma proteins is low (ranging from 10% to 25%), when given at therapeutic doses.[Label]",
      "volume_of_distribution": [
        "Volume of distribution is about 0..."
      ],
      "clearance": [
        "Adults: 0.27 L/h/kg following a 15 mg/kg intravenous (IV) dose.[Label]",
        "Children: 0.34 L/h/kg following a 15 mg/kg intravenous (IV dose).[Label]"
      ],
      "half_life": "The half-life for adults is 2...",
      "route_of_elimination": "Acetaminophen metabolites are mainly excreted in the urine...",
      "toxicity_description": "LD50 = 338 mg/kg (oral, mouse); LD50 = 1944 mg/kg (oral, rat)[F4133]\r\n\r\n**Overdose and liver toxicity** \r\n\r\nAcetaminophen overdose may be manifested by..."
    },
    "food_interactions": [
      "Avoid alcohol. Alcohol may increase the risk of hepatotoxicity.",
      "Take with or without food. The absorption is unaffected by food."
    ],
    "identifiers": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00316",
      "inchi": "InChI=1S/C8H9NO2/c1-6(10)9-7-2-4-8(11)5-3-7/h2-5,11H,1H3,(H,9,10)",
      "inchikey": "RZVAJINKPMORJF-UHFFFAOYSA-N",
      "atc_codes": [
        {
          "code": "N02BE71",
          "title": "paracetamol, combinations with psycholeptics",
          "combination": true
        },
        {
          "code": "N02BE01",
          "title": "paracetamol",
          "combination": false
        },
        "..."
      ]
    },
    "therapeutic_categories": [
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT000041",
        "name": "Analgesics",
        "mesh_id": "D000700",
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [
          "D27.505.696.663.850.014",
          "D27.505.954.427.040"
        ],
        "atc_code": "N02",
        "atc_level": 2,
        "synonyms": [
          "Agents, Analgesic",
          "Analgesic Agents",
          "..."
        ],
        "description": "Compounds that show activity in animal models of human PAIN such as tail flick and hot plate assays."
      },
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT003661",
        "name": "Miscellaneous Analgesics and Antipyretics",
        "mesh_id": null,
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [],
        "atc_code": null,
        "atc_level": null,
        "synonyms": [],
        "description": null
      }
    ]
  }
]

Drugs can be searched via simple or complex queries. Using a simple q parameter will search across all available fields.

You can also perform advanced searching based on the Lucene query language. The search supports boolean logic (AND, OR, NOT operations). To match a string exactly, place quotes around your search term (for example “acetic acid” will only match the acetic followed by acid, it will not match acetic or acid alone). You can also search using “wild cards” by inserting a * in your search term. For example, searching for acet* will match all words starting with “acet”. In addition, text search supports parenthetical groupings, and prepended +plus and -minus operators.

The search can also be narrowed to specific fields by prepending your query term with the field name followed by a semi-colon. For example, to search for drugs that are vitamins, you could use categories:vitamins. Searcheable fields are listed in the table below.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs?q=<query_string>

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.

Searchable Fields

Field Description
name Name of the drug.
international_brands International brand names for products containing the drug.
products Products the drug is found in.
synonyms Synonyms for the drug name.
cas_number CAS number of the drug.
iupac IUPAC name for the drug.
description Description of the drug.
categories Categories the drug is part of.

Notice the hits array returned in the results. The hits contain highlighted snippets from the match. You can use these highlights in autocomplete applications. The matching part of the text is wrapped in an <em> tag, which you can style as you wish in your application. Note that the hitsarray only contains matches in the most relevant fields, and may no be present in all searches.

Get bonds for a drug

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs/DB00316/bonds' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "type": "Carrier",
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0000530",
      "name": "Serum albumin",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "known_action": "unknown",
    "actions": [
      "binder"
    ],
    "inhibition_strength": null,
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A187241",
          "pubmed_id": 6491906,
          "citation": "Morris ME, Levy G: Renal clearance and serum protein binding of acetaminophen and its major conjugates in humans..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "Enzyme",
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0003533",
      "name": "Cytochrome P450 2E1",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "inhibition_strength": null,
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A15225",
          "pubmed_id": 11095574,
          "citation": "Dong H, Haining RL, Thummel KE, Rettie AE, Nelson SD: Involvement of human cytochrome P450 2D6 in the bioactivation of acetaminophen..."
        },
        {
          "ref_id": "A176372",
          "pubmed_id": 10741631,
          "citation": "Manyike PT, Kharasch ED, Kalhorn TF, Slattery JT: Contribution of CYP2E1 and CYP3A to acetaminophen reactive metabolite formation..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [
        {
          "ref_id": "L162",
          "title": "Flockhart Table of Drug Interactions",
          "url": "https://drug-interactions.medicine.iu.edu/Main-Table.aspx"
        }
      ],
      "attachments": [
        {
          "ref_id": "F4139",
          "title": "Acetaminophen FDA label",
          "url": "//s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/drugbank/cite_this/attachments/files/000/004/139/original/Acetaminophen_Injection_FDA_label.pdf?1553717049"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "..."
]

This endpoint returns a list of target, enzyme, carrier, and/or transporter bonds for the given drug.

Note that these bonds can be filtered and searched in the same way as described in the Bonds section below.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs/<ID>/bonds

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The DrugBank ID of the drug to retrieve the bonds

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.

Get SNPs for a drug

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs/DB00002/snps' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "drugbank_id": "DBSNPE000153",
    "alternate_drugbank_ids": [],
    "protein_name": "Low affinity immunoglobulin gamma Fc region receptor II-a",
    "gene_symbol": "FCGR2A",
    "uniprot_id": "P12318",
    "action_types": [
      "Effect",
      "Directly Studied"
    ],
    "allele": null,
    "genotypes": [
      "(C;T)",
      "(T;T)"
    ],
    "repute": "good",
    "description": "Patients with this genotype may have increased progression-free survival time when using cetuximab to treat colorectal cancer.",
    "reverse_description": "Patients with this genotype have normal progression-free survival time when using cetuximab to treat colorectal cancer.",
    "defining_changes": [
      {
        "rs_id": "rs1801274",
        "change": "H allelle",
        "orientation": "minus"
      }
    ],
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A13078",
          "pubmed_id": 17704420,
          "citation": "Zhang W, Gordon M, Schultheis AM, Yang DY, Nagashima F, Azuma M, Chang HM, Borucka E, Lurje G, Sherrod AE, Iqbal S, Groshen S, Lenz HJ: FCGR2A and FCGR..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  {
    "drugbank_id": "DBSNPE000161",
    "alternate_drugbank_ids": [],
    "protein_name": "Low affinity immunoglobulin gamma Fc region receptor III-A",
    "gene_symbol": "FCGR3A",
    "uniprot_id": "P08637",
    "action_types": [
      "Effect",
      "Directly Studied"
    ],
    "allele": null,
    "genotypes": [
      "(G;T)",
      "(T;T)"
    ],
    "repute": "good",
    "description": "Patients with this genotype have increased progression-free survival time when using cetuximab to treat colorectal cancer.",
    "reverse_description": "Patients with this genotype have normal progression-free survival time when using cetuximab to treat colorectal cancer.",
    "defining_changes": [
      {
        "rs_id": "rs396991",
        "change": "G > T",
        "orientation": "minus"
      }
    ],
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A13078",
          "pubmed_id": 17704420,
          "citation": "Zhang W, Gordon M, Schultheis AM, Yang DY, Nagashima F, Azuma M, Chang HM, Borucka E, Lurje G, Sherrod AE, Iqbal S, Groshen S, Lenz HJ: FCGR2A and FCGR..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  }
]

This endpoint returns a list of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) relevent to the given drug’s activity or metabolism, and the effects these may have on pharmacological activity.

Note that these SNPs can be filtered and searched in the same way as described in the SNPs section below.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/drugs/<ID>/snps

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The DrugBank ID of the drug to retrieve the SNPs

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.
include_inferred false Also include SNPs that have only been inferred, not directly studied.

Common Parameters

The following parameters can be applied when retrieving any product.

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
drug_details false If true, returns the full details for the drug ingredients, otherwise just the drug name and DrugBank ID are returned. Requires access to the Drugs endpoint to use. Note that if used, the include_simple_desc and include_clinical_desc parameters will be ignored since the descriptions are already included in the drug details.
include_simple_desc false If set to true, include simple descriptions for the product ingredients.
include_clinical_desc false If set to true, include clinical descriptions for the product ingredients.
include_references false If true, includes the lists of references for the drug ingredients. Note that you also have to specify drug_details=true to see this data. See References for details.

Get a specific U.S. product

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products/55154-2727?drug_details=true' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

{
  "ndc_product_code": "55154-2727",
  "originator_ndc_product_code": "55154-2727",
  "dpd_id": null,
  "ema_product_code": null,
  "ema_ma_number": null,
  "name": "Viagra",
  "prescribable_name": "Sildenafil citrate 25 mg Oral Tablet [Viagra]",
  "rx_norm_prescribable_name": "Viagra 25 MG Oral Tablet",
  "started_marketing_on": "1998-03-27",
  "ended_marketing_on": "2013-12-31",
  "approved_on": null,
  "schedule": null,
  "dosage_form": "Tablet, film coated",
  "route": "Oral",
  "application_number": "NDA020895",
  "generic": false,
  "otc": false,
  "approved": true,
  "country": "US",
  "mixture": false,
  "allergenic": false,
  "cosmetic": false,
  "vaccine": false,
  "ingredients": [
    {
      "drug": {
        "drugbank_id": "DB00203",
        "name": "Sildenafil",
        "cas_number": "139755-83-2",
        "annotation_status": "complete",
        "type": "Small Molecule",
        "groups": [
          "Approved",
          "Investigational"
        ],
        "availability_by_region": [
          {
            "region": "ca",
            "max_phase": 4,
            "marketed_prescription": true,
            "generic_available": true,
            "pre_market_cancelled": false,
            "post_market_cancelled": false
          },
          {
            "region": "eu",
            "max_phase": 4,
            "marketed_prescription": true,
            "generic_available": false,
            "pre_market_cancelled": false,
            "post_market_cancelled": false
          },
          "..."
        ],
        "description": "In eliciting its mechanism of action, sildenafil ultimately prevents or minimizes the breakdown of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) by inhibiting ...",
        "simple_description": "A medication used to treat the inability to get or keep an erection.",
        "clinical_description": "A phosphodiesterase inhibitor used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.",
        "synonyms": [
          "1-((3-(4,7-Dihydro-1-methyl-7-oxo-3-propyl-1H-pyrazolo(4,3-d)pyrimidin-5-yl)-4-ethoxyphenyl)sulfonyl)-4-methylpiperazine",
          "Sildenafil",
          "..."
        ],
        "pharmacology": {
          "indication_description": "Sildenafil is a phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitor that is predominantly employed for two primary indications:\r\n\r\n(1) the treatment of erectile dysfu...",
          "pharmacodynamic_description": "In vitro studies have shown that sildenafil is selective for phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) [F3850, F3853, F3856, F3859, F3883, F3886, L5611, L5614]...",
          "mechanism_of_action_description": "Sildenafil is an oral therapy for erectile dysfunction [A175582, F3853, F3856, F3886, L5611]...",
          "absorption": "Sildenafil is known to be quickly absorbed, with maximum plasma concentrations being observed within 30-120 minutes (with a median of 60 minutes) of or...",
          "protein_binding": "It is generally observed that sildenafil and its main circulating N-desmethyl metabolite are both estimated to be about 96% bound to plasma proteins [F...",
          "volume_of_distribution": [
            "The mean steady-state volume of distribution documented for sildenafil is approximately 105 L - a value which suggests the medication undergoes distrib..."
          ],
          "clearance": [
            "The total body clearance documented for sildenafil is 41 L/h [F3850, F3853, F3856, F3859, F3883, F3886, L5611, L5614]."
          ],
          "half_life": "The terminal phase half-life observed for sildenafil is approximately 3 to 5 hours [F3850, F3853, F3856, F3859, F3883, F3886, L5611, L5614]. ",
          "route_of_elimination": "After either oral or intravenous administration, sildenafil is excreted as metabolites predominantly in the feces (approximately 80% of the administere...",
          "toxicity_description": "In single-dose volunteer studies of doses up to 800 mg, adverse reactions were similar to those seen at lower doses, but the incidence rates and severi..."
        },
        "food_interactions": [
          "Take with or without food. If taken with a high-fat meal the medicine may take a little longer to start working."
        ],
        "identifiers": {
          "drugbank_id": "DB00203",
          "inchi": "InChI=1S/C22H30N6O4S/c1-5-7-17-19-20(27(4)25-17)22(29)24-21(23-19)16-14-15(8-9-18(16)32-6-2)33(30,31)28-12-10-26(3)11-13-28/h8-9,14H,5-7,10-13H2,1-4H3,...",
          "inchikey": "BNRNXUUZRGQAQC-UHFFFAOYSA-N",
          "atc_codes": [
            {
              "code": "G01AE10",
              "title": "combinations of sulfonamides",
              "combination": true
            },
            {
              "code": "G04BE03",
              "title": "sildenafil",
              "combination": false
            }
          ]
        },
        "therapeutic_categories": [
          {
            "drugbank_id": "DBCAT000518",
            "name": "Phosphodiesterase 5 Inhibitors",
            "mesh_id": "D058986",
            "mesh_tree_numbers": [
              "D27.505.519.389.735.500"
            ],
            "atc_code": null,
            "atc_level": null,
            "synonyms": [
              "Inhibitors, PDE-5",
              "Inhibitors, PDE5",
              "..."
            ],
            "description": "Compounds that specifically inhibit PHOSPHODIESTERASE 5."
          }
        ]
      },
      "strength": {
        "number": "25",
        "unit": "mg/1"
      }
    }
  ],
  "therapeutic_categories": [
    {
      "drugbank_id": "DBCAT000518",
      "name": "Phosphodiesterase 5 Inhibitors",
      "mesh_id": "D058986",
      "mesh_tree_numbers": [
        "D27.505.519.389.735.500"
      ],
      "atc_code": null,
      "atc_level": null,
      "synonyms": [
        "Inhibitors, PDE-5",
        "Inhibitors, PDE5",
        "..."
      ],
      "description": "Compounds that specifically inhibit PHOSPHODIESTERASE 5."
    }
  ],
  "labeller": {
    "name": "Cardinal Health"
  },
  "images": [
    {
      "description": "sildenafil 25 MG Oral Tablet [Viagra]",
      "image_url_original": "//s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/drugbank/product_images/images/original/00069-4200-30_NLMIMAGE10_601DB05D.jpg?1498436488",
      "image_url_tiny": "//s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/drugbank/product_images/images/tiny/00069-4200-30_NLMIMAGE10_601DB05D.jpg?1498436488",
      "image_url_thumb": "//s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/drugbank/product_images/images/thumb/00069-4200-30_NLMIMAGE10_601DB05D.jpg?1498436488",
      "image_url_medium": "//s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/drugbank/product_images/images/medium/00069-4200-30_NLMIMAGE10_601DB05D.jpg?1498436488"
    }
  ]
}

This endpoint retrieves a specific drug product based on NDC ID.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products/<NDC_ID>

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The NDC ID of the product to retrieve.

Query Parameters

See Common Parameters.

Get a specific Canadian product

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products/02474263' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

{
  "ndc_product_code": null,
  "originator_ndc_product_code": null,
  "dpd_id": "02474263",
  "ema_product_code": null,
  "ema_ma_number": null,
  "name": "Humira",
  "prescribable_name": "Adalimumab 10% Injection [Humira]",
  "started_marketing_on": "2020-08-18",
  "ended_marketing_on": null,
  "approved_on": "2018-03-26",
  "schedule": "Prescription; Schedule D",
  "dosage_form": "Solution",
  "route": "Subcutaneous",
  "application_number": null,
  "generic": false,
  "otc": false,
  "approved": true,
  "country": "Canada",
  "mixture": false,
  "allergenic": false,
  "cosmetic": false,
  "vaccine": false,
  "ingredients": [
    {
      "name": "Adalimumab",
      "drugbank_id": "DB00051",
      "strength": {
        "number": "20",
        "unit": "mg / 0.2 mL"
      }
    }
  ],
  "therapeutic_categories": [
    {
      "drugbank_id": "DBCAT003604",
      "name": "Disease-modifying Antirheumatic Agents",
      "mesh_id": null,
      "mesh_tree_numbers": [],
      "atc_code": null,
      "atc_level": null,
      "synonyms": [],
      "description": null
    },
    {
      "drugbank_id": "DBCAT003746",
      "name": "Miscellaneous GI Drugs",
      "mesh_id": null,
      "mesh_tree_numbers": [],
      "atc_code": null,
      "atc_level": null,
      "synonyms": [],
      "description": null
    },
    "..."
  ],
  "labeller": {
    "name": "Abbvie"
  }
}

This endpoint retrieves a specific drug product based on DPD ID (Drug Product ID, a.k.a. DIN).

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products/<DPD_ID>

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The DPD ID of the product to retrieve. (Note: The DPD ID is also known as the DIN.)

Query Parameters

See Common Parameters.

Get a list of E.U. products by product code

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products/EMEA/H/C/000287' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "ndc_product_code": null,
    "originator_ndc_product_code": null,
    "dpd_id": null,
    "ema_product_code": "EMEA/H/C/000287",
    "ema_ma_number": "EU/1/99/125/001",
    "name": "Zyprexa Velotab",
    "prescribable_name": "Zyprexa 5 mg Disintegrating Oral Tablet",
    "started_marketing_on": "2016-09-08",
    "ended_marketing_on": null,
    "approved_on": null,
    "schedule": null,
    "dosage_form": "Tablet, orally disintegrating",
    "route": "Oral",
    "application_number": null,
    "generic": false,
    "otc": false,
    "approved": true,
    "country": "EU",
    "mixture": false,
    "allergenic": false,
    "cosmetic": false,
    "vaccine": false,
    "ingredients": [
      {
        "name": "Olanzapine",
        "drugbank_id": "DB00334",
        "strength": {
          "number": "5",
          "unit": "mg"
        }
      }
    ],
    "therapeutic_categories": [
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT000529",
        "name": "Antipsychotic Agents",
        "mesh_id": "D014150",
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [
          "D27.505.696.277.950.040",
          "D27.505.954.427.210.950.040",
          "..."
        ],
        "atc_code": "N05A",
        "atc_level": 3,
        "synonyms": [
          "Agents, Antipsychotic",
          "Agents, Major Tranquilizing",
          "..."
        ],
        "description": "Agents that control agitated psychotic behavior, alleviate acute psychotic states, reduce psychotic symptoms, and exert a quieting effect..."
      },
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT002673",
        "name": "Antipsychotic Agents (Second Generation [Atypical])",
        "mesh_id": null,
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [],
        "atc_code": null,
        "atc_level": null,
        "synonyms": [
          "Atypical Antipsychotic",
          "Atypical Antipsychotic Agents",
          "..."
        ],
        "description": null
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "labeller": {
      "name": "Eli Lilly Nederland B.V."
    }
  }
]

This endpoint retrieves a list of drug products based on EMA Product ID (European Medicines Agency ID). These products will have mostly the same information, although route, form and strengths may vary.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products/<EMA_ID>

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The EMA ID of the product to retrieve.

Query Parameters

See Common Parameters.

Get a specific E.U. product by marketing authorisation number

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products/EU/1/01/174/018' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

{
  "ndc_product_code": null,
  "originator_ndc_product_code": null,
  "dpd_id": null,
  "ema_product_code": "EMEA/H/C/000335",
  "ema_ma_number": "EU/1/01/174/018",
  "name": "Starlix",
  "prescribable_name": "Starlix 180 mg Oral Tablet",
  "started_marketing_on": "2016-09-08",
  "ended_marketing_on": "2022-06-28",
  "approved_on": null,
  "schedule": null,
  "dosage_form": "Tablet, film coated",
  "route": "Oral",
  "application_number": null,
  "generic": false,
  "otc": false,
  "approved": false,
  "country": "EU",
  "mixture": false,
  "allergenic": false,
  "cosmetic": false,
  "vaccine": false,
  "ingredients": [
    {
      "name": "Nateglinide",
      "drugbank_id": "DB00731",
      "strength": {
        "number": "180",
        "unit": "mg"
      }
    }
  ],
  "therapeutic_categories": [
    {
      "drugbank_id": "DBCAT002698",
      "name": "Blood Glucose Lowering Agents",
      "mesh_id": "D007004",
      "mesh_tree_numbers": [
        "D27.505.696.422"
      ],
      "atc_code": "A10B",
      "atc_level": 3,
      "synonyms": [
        "Agents, Antidiabetic",
        "Agents, Antihyperglycemic",
        "..."
      ],
      "description": "Substances which lower blood glucose levels."
    },
    {
      "drugbank_id": "DBCAT003395",
      "name": "Glinide",
      "mesh_id": null,
      "mesh_tree_numbers": [],
      "atc_code": null,
      "atc_level": null,
      "synonyms": [
        "Glinides",
        "Prandial Glucose Regulators"
      ],
      "description": null
    }
  ],
  "labeller": {
    "name": "Novartis Europharm Limited"
  }
}

This endpoint retrieves a specific drug product based on EMA MA Number (European Medicines Agency Marketing Authorisation number).

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products/<EMA_MA_NUMBER>

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
EMA_MA_NUMBER The EMA MA Number of the product to retrieve.

Query Parameters

See Common Parameters.

Get a list of products by ID

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products?ids=55154-2727,02474263' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "ndc_product_code": "55154-2727",
    "originator_ndc_product_code": "55154-2727",
    "dpd_id": null,
    "ema_product_code": null,
    "ema_ma_number": null,
    "name": "Viagra",
    "prescribable_name": "Sildenafil citrate 25 mg Oral Tablet [Viagra]",
    "rx_norm_prescribable_name": "Viagra 25 MG Oral Tablet",
    "started_marketing_on": "1998-03-27",
    "ended_marketing_on": "2013-12-31",
    "approved_on": null,
    "schedule": null,
    "dosage_form": "Tablet, film coated",
    "route": "Oral",
    "application_number": "NDA020895",
    "generic": false,
    "otc": false,
    "approved": true,
    "country": "US",
    "mixture": false,
    "allergenic": false,
    "cosmetic": false,
    "vaccine": false,
    "ingredients": [
      {
        "name": "Sildenafil",
        "drugbank_id": "DB00203",
        "strength": {
          "number": "25",
          "unit": "mg/1"
        }
      }
    ],
    "therapeutic_categories": [
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT000518",
        "name": "Phosphodiesterase 5 Inhibitors",
        "mesh_id": "D058986",
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [
          "D27.505.519.389.735.500"
        ],
        "atc_code": null,
        "atc_level": null,
        "synonyms": [
          "Inhibitors, PDE-5",
          "Inhibitors, PDE5",
          "..."
        ],
        "description": "Compounds that specifically inhibit PHOSPHODIESTERASE 5."
      }
    ],
    "labeller": {
      "name": "Cardinal Health"
    },
    "images": [
      {
        "description": "sildenafil 25 MG Oral Tablet [Viagra]",
        "image_url_original": "//s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/drugbank/product_images/images/original/00069-4200-30_NLMIMAGE10_601DB05D.jpg?1498436488",
        "image_url_tiny": "//s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/drugbank/product_images/images/tiny/00069-4200-30_NLMIMAGE10_601DB05D.jpg?1498436488",
        "image_url_thumb": "//s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/drugbank/product_images/images/thumb/00069-4200-30_NLMIMAGE10_601DB05D.jpg?1498436488",
        "image_url_medium": "//s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/drugbank/product_images/images/medium/00069-4200-30_NLMIMAGE10_601DB05D.jpg?1498436488"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "ndc_product_code": null,
    "originator_ndc_product_code": null,
    "dpd_id": "02474263",
    "ema_product_code": null,
    "ema_ma_number": null,
    "name": "Humira",
    "prescribable_name": "Adalimumab 10% Injection [Humira]",
    "started_marketing_on": "2020-08-18",
    "ended_marketing_on": null,
    "approved_on": "2018-03-26",
    "schedule": "Prescription; Schedule D",
    "dosage_form": "Solution",
    "route": "Subcutaneous",
    "application_number": null,
    "generic": false,
    "otc": false,
    "approved": true,
    "country": "Canada",
    "mixture": false,
    "allergenic": false,
    "cosmetic": false,
    "vaccine": false,
    "ingredients": [
      {
        "name": "Adalimumab",
        "drugbank_id": "DB00051",
        "strength": {
          "number": "20",
          "unit": "mg / 0.2 mL"
        }
      }
    ],
    "therapeutic_categories": [
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT003604",
        "name": "Disease-modifying Antirheumatic Agents",
        "mesh_id": null,
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [],
        "atc_code": null,
        "atc_level": null,
        "synonyms": [],
        "description": null
      },
      {
        "drugbank_id": "DBCAT003746",
        "name": "Miscellaneous GI Drugs",
        "mesh_id": null,
        "mesh_tree_numbers": [],
        "atc_code": null,
        "atc_level": null,
        "synonyms": [],
        "description": null
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "labeller": {
      "name": "Abbvie"
    }
  }
]

This endpoint retrieves a list of product records based on NDC IDs, DPD IDs, EMA Product IDs, and/or EMA MA Numbers.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products?ids=<ids>

URL Parameters

Parameter Default Description
ids null A comma separated string of NDC IDs, DPD IDs, EMA Product IDs, and/or EMA MA Numbers to retrieve records for.
include_simple_desc false If set to true, include simple descriptions for the product ingredients.
include_clinical_desc false If set to true, include clinical descriptions for the product ingredients.

Get bonds for a product

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products/28595-400/bonds' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "type": "Target",
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00114",
      "name": "Pyridoxal phosphate"
    },
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0000102",
      "name": "Alanine--glyoxylate aminotransferase 2, mitochondrial",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "known_action": "unknown",
    "actions": [
      "cofactor"
    ],
    "inhibition_strength": null,
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A6727",
          "pubmed_id": 7592550,
          "citation": "Lee IS, Muragaki Y, Ideguchi T, Hase T, Tsuji M, Ooshima A, Okuno E, Kido R: Molecular cloning and sequencing of a cDNA encoding alanine-glyoxylate ami..."
        },
        {
          "ref_id": "A6728",
          "pubmed_id": 6703688,
          "citation": "Takada Y, Mori T, Noguchi T: The effect of vitamin B6 deficiency on alanine: glyoxylate aminotransferase isoenzymes in rat liver..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "Target",
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00114",
      "name": "Pyridoxal phosphate"
    },
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0000378",
      "name": "Glutamate decarboxylase 1",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "known_action": "unknown",
    "actions": [
      "cofactor"
    ],
    "inhibition_strength": null,
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A6729",
          "pubmed_id": 15381280,
          "citation": "Hwang IK, Yoo KY, Kim DS, Eum WS, Park JK, Park J, Kwon OS, Kang TC, Choi SY, Won MH: Changes of pyridoxal kinase expression and activity in the gerbil..."
        },
        {
          "ref_id": "A6730",
          "pubmed_id": 11488610,
          "citation": "Rust E, Martin DL, Chen CH: Cofactor and tryptophan accessibility and unfolding of brain glutamate decarboxylase..."
        },
        "..."
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  "..."
]

This endpoint returns a list of target, enzyme, carrier, and/or transporter bonds for the given product.

Note that these bonds can be filtered and searched in the same way as described in the Bonds section below.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products/<ID>/bonds

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The NDC ID/DPD ID/EMA Product ID/EMA MA Number of the product to retrieve the bonds

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.

Get SNPs for a product

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products/00012882/snps' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "drugbank_id": "DBSNPE000220",
    "alternate_drugbank_ids": [],
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00544",
      "name": "Fluorouracil"
    },
    "protein_name": "Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase [NADP(+)]",
    "gene_symbol": "DPYD",
    "uniprot_id": "Q12882",
    "action_types": [
      "ADR",
      "Directly Studied"
    ],
    "allele": null,
    "genotypes": [
      "(A;A)",
      "(A;T)"
    ],
    "repute": "bad",
    "description": "The presence of this genotype in DPYD is associated with an increased risk of drug-related toxicity from fluorouracil therapy.",
    "reverse_description": "The presence of this genotype is associated with a normal risk of drug-related toxicity from fluorouracil therapy.",
    "defining_changes": [
      {
        "rs_id": "rs67376798",
        "change": "T > A",
        "orientation": "plus"
      }
    ],
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A18775",
          "pubmed_id": 23988873,
          "citation": "Caudle KE, Thorn CF, Klein TE, Swen JJ, McLeod HL, Diasio RB, Schwab M: Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium guidelines for dihydropyrim..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  {
    "drugbank_id": "DBSNPE000221",
    "alternate_drugbank_ids": [],
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00544",
      "name": "Fluorouracil"
    },
    "protein_name": "Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase [NADP(+)]",
    "gene_symbol": "DPYD",
    "uniprot_id": "Q12882",
    "action_types": [
      "ADR",
      "Directly Studied"
    ],
    "allele": "DPYD*4",
    "genotypes": [
      "(A:G)",
      "(G;G)"
    ],
    "repute": "bad",
    "description": "The presence of this genotype in DPYD may be associated with an increased risk of drug-related toxicity from fluorouracil therapy.",
    "reverse_description": "The presence of this genotype is associated with a normal risk of drug-related toxicity from fluorouracil therapy.",
    "defining_changes": [
      {
        "rs_id": "rs1801158",
        "change": "G > A",
        "orientation": "minus"
      }
    ],
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A18775",
          "pubmed_id": 23988873,
          "citation": "Caudle KE, Thorn CF, Klein TE, Swen JJ, McLeod HL, Diasio RB, Schwab M: Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium guidelines for dihydropyrim..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  "..."
]

This endpoint returns a list of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) relevent to the given product’s activity or metabolism, and the effects these may have on pharmacological activity.

Note that these SNPs can be filtered and searched in the same way as described in the SNPs section below.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/products/<ID>/snps

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The NDC ID/DPD ID/EMA Product ID/EMA MA Number of the product to retrieve the SNPs

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.
include_inferred false Also include SNPs that have only been inferred, not directly studied.

Bonds

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bonds' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "type": "Target",
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00001",
      "name": "Lepirudin"
    },
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0000048",
      "name": "Prothrombin",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "known_action": "yes",
    "actions": [
      "inhibitor"
    ],
    "inhibition_strength": "unknown",
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A1703",
          "pubmed_id": 10505536,
          "citation": "Turpie AG: Anticoagulants in acute coronary syndromes. Am J Cardiol. 1999 Sep 2;84(5A):2M-6M."
        },
        {
          "ref_id": "A1705",
          "pubmed_id": 10912644,
          "citation": "Warkentin TE: Venous thromboembolism in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2000 Jul;6(4):343-51."
        },
        "..."
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [
        {
          "ref_id": "L41539",
          "title": "Health Canada Approved Drug Products: Refludan (lepirudin) lyophilized powder for intravenous injection",
          "url": "https://pdf.hres.ca/dpd_pm/00004023.PDF"
        }
      ],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "Target",
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00002",
      "name": "Cetuximab"
    },
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0000767",
      "name": "Epidermal growth factor receptor",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "known_action": "yes",
    "actions": [
      "binder"
    ],
    "inhibition_strength": null,
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A9",
          "pubmed_id": 11752352,
          "citation": "Chen X, Ji ZL, Chen YZ: TTD: Therapeutic Target Database. Nucleic Acids Res. 2002 Jan 1;30(1):412-5."
        },
        {
          "ref_id": "A227973",
          "pubmed_id": 15821783,
          "citation": "Harding J, Burtness B: Cetuximab: an epidermal growth factor receptor chemeric human-murine monoclonal antibody..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  "..."
]

This endpoint returns a list of drug target, enzyme, carrier, and/or transporter bonds.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bonds

Bond Filtering

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bonds/enzymes' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "type": "Enzyme",
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00006",
      "name": "Bivalirudin"
    },
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0001075",
      "name": "Myeloperoxidase",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "inhibition_strength": "unknown",
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A17596",
          "pubmed_id": 18701766,
          "citation": "Rudolph V, Rudolph TK, Schopfer FJ, Bonacci G, Lau D, Szocs K, Klinke A, Meinertz T, Freeman BA, Baldus S: Bivalirudin decreases NO bioavailability by ..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "Enzyme",
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00008",
      "name": "Peginterferon alfa-2a"
    },
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0002433",
      "name": "Cytochrome P450 1A2",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "inhibition_strength": "unknown",
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A39126",
          "pubmed_id": 11910269,
          "citation": "Begre S, von Bardeleben U, Ladewig D, Jaquet-Rochat S, Cosendai-Savary L, Golay KP, Kosel M, Baumann P, Eap CB: Paroxetine increases steady-state conce..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": [
        {
          "ref_id": "F1718",
          "title": "Peg-interferon FDA label",
          "url": "//s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/drugbank/cite_this/attachments/files/000/001/718/original/peg.pdf?1538425761"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "..."
]

Bonds can be also filtered by type, by appending the type to the end of the request url.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bonds/<bond_type>

Bond Types

Type Description
targets Proteins, macromolecules, nucleic acids, or small molecules to which a given drug binds, resulting in an alteration of the normal function of the bound molecule and a desirable therapeutic effect.
enzymes Proteins which catalyzes chemical reactions involving the a given drug (substrate).
carriers Secreted proteins which bind to drugs, carrying them to cell transporters, where they are moved into the cell.
transporters Membrane bound proteins which shuttle ions, small molecules or macromolecules across membranes, into cells or out of cells.

Bond Searching

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bonds/targets?q=drug_categories:immunoglobulins+AND+polypeptides.name:"fusion+glycoprotein"' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "hits": [
      {
        "field": "drug_categories",
        "value": "<em>Immunoglobulins</em>"
      },
      {
        "field": "polypeptides.name",
        "value": "<em>Fusion</em> <em>glycoprotein</em> F0"
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "type": "Target",
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00110",
      "name": "Palivizumab"
    },
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0000686",
      "name": "Fusion glycoprotein F0",
      "organism": "Human respiratory syncytial virus B (strain 18537)"
    },
    "known_action": "yes",
    "actions": [],
    "inhibition_strength": null,
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A2159",
          "pubmed_id": 20519399,
          "citation": "Huang K, Incognito L, Cheng X, Ulbrandt ND, Wu H: Respiratory syncytial virus-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies motavizumab and palivizumab inhibit fu..."
        },
        {
          "ref_id": "A2160",
          "pubmed_id": 17990791,
          "citation": "Wu H, Pfarr DS, Losonsky GA, Kiener PA: Immunoprophylaxis of RSV infection: advancing from RSV-IGIV to palivizumab and motavizumab..."
        },
        "..."
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  }
]

Bonds can be searched via simple or complex queries. Using a simple q parameter will search across all available fields.

You can also perform advanced searching based on the Lucene query language. The search supports boolean logic (AND, OR, NOT operations). To match a string exactly, place quotes around your search term (for example “acetic acid” will only match the acetic followed by acid, it will not match acetic or acid alone). You can also search using “wild cards” by inserting a * in your search term. For example, searching for acet* will match all words starting with “acet”. In addition, text search supports parenthetical groupings, and prepended +plus and -minus operators.

The search can also be narrowed to specific fields by prepending your query term with the field name followed by a semi-colon. For example, to search for bonds for drugs that are vitamins, you could use drug_categories:vitamins. Searcheable fields are listed in the table below.

Note that searching can be performed in the same way on requests filtered by type (described above).

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bonds?q=<query_string>

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.

Searchable Fields

Field Description
drug_name Name of the drug involved in the bond.
drug_synonyms Synonyms for drug involved in the bond.
drug_categories Catetories of the drug involved in the bond.
groups Groups of the drug involved in the bond; may be approved, vet_approved, nutraceutical, illicit, withdrawn, investigational, or experimental.
name Name of the bio-entity bonded by the drug.
organism Name of the organism the bond is found in.
polypeptides.uniprot_id Primary UniProt id of polypeptides involved in the bond.
polypeptides.name Name of polypeptides involved in the bond.
polypeptides.gene_name Gene name of polypeptides involved in the bond.
small_molecules.name Name of molecules involved in the bond.

Notice the hits array returned in the results. The hits contain highlighted snippets from the match. You can use these highlights in autocomplete applications. The matching part of the text is wrapped in an <em> tag, which you can style as you wish in your application. Note that the hitsarray only contains matches in the most relevant fields, and may no be present in all searches.

SNPs

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/snps' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "drugbank_id": "DBSNPE000153",
    "alternate_drugbank_ids": [],
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00002",
      "name": "Cetuximab"
    },
    "protein_name": "Low affinity immunoglobulin gamma Fc region receptor II-a",
    "gene_symbol": "FCGR2A",
    "uniprot_id": "P12318",
    "action_types": [
      "Effect",
      "Directly Studied"
    ],
    "allele": null,
    "genotypes": [
      "(C;T)",
      "(T;T)"
    ],
    "repute": "good",
    "description": "Patients with this genotype may have increased progression-free survival time when using cetuximab to treat colorectal cancer.",
    "reverse_description": "Patients with this genotype have normal progression-free survival time when using cetuximab to treat colorectal cancer.",
    "defining_changes": [
      {
        "rs_id": "rs1801274",
        "change": "H allelle",
        "orientation": "minus"
      }
    ],
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A13078",
          "pubmed_id": 17704420,
          "citation": "Zhang W, Gordon M, Schultheis AM, Yang DY, Nagashima F, Azuma M, Chang HM, Borucka E, Lurje G, Sherrod AE, Iqbal S, Groshen S, Lenz HJ: FCGR2A and FCGR..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  {
    "drugbank_id": "DBSNPE000161",
    "alternate_drugbank_ids": [],
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00002",
      "name": "Cetuximab"
    },
    "protein_name": "Low affinity immunoglobulin gamma Fc region receptor III-A",
    "gene_symbol": "FCGR3A",
    "uniprot_id": "P08637",
    "action_types": [
      "Effect",
      "Directly Studied"
    ],
    "allele": null,
    "genotypes": [
      "(G;T)",
      "(T;T)"
    ],
    "repute": "good",
    "description": "Patients with this genotype have increased progression-free survival time when using cetuximab to treat colorectal cancer.",
    "reverse_description": "Patients with this genotype have normal progression-free survival time when using cetuximab to treat colorectal cancer.",
    "defining_changes": [
      {
        "rs_id": "rs396991",
        "change": "G > T",
        "orientation": "minus"
      }
    ],
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A13078",
          "pubmed_id": 17704420,
          "citation": "Zhang W, Gordon M, Schultheis AM, Yang DY, Nagashima F, Azuma M, Chang HM, Borucka E, Lurje G, Sherrod AE, Iqbal S, Groshen S, Lenz HJ: FCGR2A and FCGR..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  "..."
]

This endpoint returns a list of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) relevent to drug activity or metabolism, and the effects these may have on pharmacological activity.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/snps

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
include_inferred false Also include SNPs that have only been inferred, not directly studied.

SNP Filtering

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/snps/actions' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "drugbank_id": "DBSNPE000060",
    "alternate_drugbank_ids": [],
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00072",
      "name": "Trastuzumab"
    },
    "protein_name": "Receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-2",
    "gene_symbol": "ERBB2",
    "uniprot_id": "P04626",
    "action_types": [
      "ADR",
      "Directly Studied"
    ],
    "allele": null,
    "genotypes": [
      "(A;G)"
    ],
    "repute": "bad",
    "description": "Patients with this genotype have increased risk of cardiotoxicity with trastuzumab.",
    "reverse_description": "Patients with this genotype have normal risk of cardiotoxicity with trastuzumab.",
    "defining_changes": [
      {
        "rs_id": "rs1136201",
        "change": "G Allele, heterozygote",
        "orientation": "plus"
      }
    ],
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A18608",
          "pubmed_id": 17693647,
          "citation": "Beauclair S, Formento P, Fischel JL, Lescaut W, Largillier R, Chamorey E, Hofman P, Ferrero JM, Pages G, Milano G: Role of the HER2 [Ile655Val] genetic..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  {
    "drugbank_id": "DBSNPE007319",
    "alternate_drugbank_ids": [],
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00193",
      "name": "Tramadol"
    },
    "protein_name": "Cytochrome P450 2D6",
    "gene_symbol": "CYP2D6",
    "uniprot_id": "P10635",
    "action_types": [
      "ADR",
      "pgx review"
    ],
    "allele": "CYP2D6*10",
    "genotypes": [],
    "repute": "unknown",
    "description": "This mutation leads to an unstable CYP2D6 enzyme with lower metabolic activity.",
    "reverse_description": null,
    "defining_changes": [
      {
        "rs_id": "rs1065852",
        "change": "100C>T (but also appears in other variants)",
        "orientation": "unspecified"
      }
    ],
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A182294",
          "pubmed_id": 24640604,
          "citation": "Xu J, Zhang XC, Lv XQ, Xu YY, Wang GX, Jiang B, Cai L, Cai XJ: Effect of the cytochrome P450 2D6*10 genotype on the pharmacokinetics of tramadol in pos..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  "..."
]

SNPs can be also filtered by type, by appending the type to the end of the request url.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/snps/<snp_type>

Bond Types

Type Description
effects SNPs relevent to drug activity or metabolism.
actions SNPs that may cause adverse drug reactions.

SNP Searching

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/snps/effects?q=drug_categories:Antidepressive+AND+protein_name:"Cytochrome+P450"' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "hits": [
      {
        "field": "drug_categories",
        "value": "<em>Antidepressive</em> Agents"
      },
      {
        "field": "protein_name",
        "value": "<em>Cytochrome</em> <em>P450</em> 2C19"
      }
    ],
    "drugbank_id": "DBSNPE006071",
    "alternate_drugbank_ids": [],
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB01175",
      "name": "Escitalopram"
    },
    "protein_name": "Cytochrome P450 2C19",
    "gene_symbol": "CYP2C19",
    "uniprot_id": "P33261",
    "action_types": [
      "Effect",
      "Directly Studied"
    ],
    "allele": "CYP2C19*2",
    "genotypes": [],
    "repute": "neutral",
    "description": "The presence of this polymorphism in CYP2C19 is associated with poor metabolism of escitalopram.",
    "reverse_description": "The presence of this genotype is associated with normal metabolism of escitalopram.",
    "defining_changes": [
      {
        "rs_id": "rs4244285",
        "change": "681G>A",
        "orientation": "plus"
      }
    ],
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A19091",
          "pubmed_id": 25974703,
          "citation": "Hicks JK, Bishop JR, Sangkuhl K, Muller DJ, Ji Y, Leckband SG, Leeder JS, Graham RL, Chiulli DL, LLerena A, Skaar TC, Scott SA, Stingl JC, Klein TE, Ca..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  {
    "hits": [
      {
        "field": "drug_categories",
        "value": "<em>Antidepressive</em> Agents"
      },
      {
        "field": "protein_name",
        "value": "<em>Cytochrome</em> <em>P450</em> 2C19"
      }
    ],
    "drugbank_id": "DBSNPE005064",
    "alternate_drugbank_ids": [],
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB01175",
      "name": "Escitalopram"
    },
    "protein_name": "Cytochrome P450 2C19",
    "gene_symbol": "CYP2C19",
    "uniprot_id": "P33261",
    "action_types": [
      "Effect",
      "Directly Studied"
    ],
    "allele": "CYP2C19*3",
    "genotypes": [],
    "repute": "neutral",
    "description": "The presence of this polymorphism in CYP2C19 is associated with reduced or poor metabolism of escitalopram.",
    "reverse_description": "The presence of this genotype is associated with normal metabolism of escitalopram.",
    "defining_changes": [
      {
        "rs_id": "rs4986893",
        "change": "636G>A",
        "orientation": "plus"
      }
    ],
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A19091",
          "pubmed_id": 25974703,
          "citation": "Hicks JK, Bishop JR, Sangkuhl K, Muller DJ, Ji Y, Leckband SG, Leeder JS, Graham RL, Chiulli DL, LLerena A, Skaar TC, Scott SA, Stingl JC, Klein TE, Ca..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  "..."
]

SNPs can be searched via simple or complex queries. Using a simple q parameter will search across all available fields.

You can also perform advanced searching based on the Lucene query language. The search supports boolean logic (AND, OR, NOT operations). To match a string exactly, place quotes around your search term (for example “acetic acid” will only match the acetic followed by acid, it will not match acetic or acid alone). You can also search using “wild cards” by inserting a * in your search term. For example, searching for acet* will match all words starting with “acet”. In addition, text search supports parenthetical groupings, and prepended +plus and -minus operators.

The search can also be narrowed to specific fields by prepending your query term with the field name followed by a semi-colon. For example, to search for SNPs for drugs that are vitamins, you could use drug_categories:vitamins. Searcheable fields are listed in the table below.

Note that searching can be performed in the same way on requests filtered by type (described above).

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/snps?q=<query_string>

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.
include_inferred false Also include SNPs that have only been inferred, not directly studied.

Searchable Fields

Field Description
drug_name Name of the drug involved in the SNP.
drug_synonyms Synonyms for drug involved in the SNP.
drug_categories Catetories of the drug involved in the SNP.
drug_groups Groups of the drug involved in the SNP; may be approved, vet_approved, nutraceutical, illicit, withdrawn, investigational, or experimental.
protein_name Name of the protein involved in the SNP.
uniprot_id UniProt id of the protein involved in the SNP.
gene_symbol Gene symbol of the protein involved in the SNP.

Notice the hits array returned in the results. The hits contain highlighted snippets from the match. You can use these highlights in autocomplete applications. The matching part of the text is wrapped in an <em> tag, which you can style as you wish in your application. Note that the hitsarray only contains matches in the most relevant fields, and may no be present in all searches.

Bio-entities

Get a specific bio-entity

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bio_entities/BE0000530' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

{
  "id": "BE0000530",
  "name": "Serum albumin",
  "kind": "protein",
  "organism": "Humans",
  "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid9606",
  "description": null,
  "synonyms": null,
  "polypeptides": [
    {
      "id": "P02768",
      "uniprot_id": "P02768",
      "uniprot_ids": [
        "P02768",
        "E7ESS9",
        "..."
      ],
      "name": "Serum albumin",
      "uniprot_name": "ALBU_HUMAN",
      "organism": "Humans",
      "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid9606",
      "gene_name": "ALB",
      "molecular_weight": "69365.94",
      "theoretical_pi": "6.21",
      "general_function": "Toxic substance binding",
      "specific_function": "Serum albumin, the main protein of plasma, has a good binding capacity for water, Ca(2+), Na(+), K(+), fatty acids, hormones, bilirubin and drugs...",
      "signal_regions": [
        "1-18"
      ],
      "transmembrane_regions": [],
      "chromosome_location": "4",
      "locus": "4q11-q13",
      "tissue_specificity": null,
      "cofactor": null,
      "subunit": null,
      "cellular_location": "Secreted",
      "external_links": {
        "pdb_ids": [
          "1AO6",
          "1BJ5",
          "..."
        ],
        "genbank_gene_id": "V00494",
        "genbank_protein_id": "28590",
        "genecard_id": null,
        "genatlas_id": "ALB",
        "hgnc_id": "HGNC:399",
        "kegg_id": "hsa:213",
        "meta_cyc_id": null,
        "ncbi_sequence_ids": null
      },
      "amino_acid_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0001058|Serum albumin\nMKWVTFISLLFLFSSAYSRGVFRRDAHKSEVAHRFKDLGEENFKALVLIAFAQYLQQCPF\nEDHVKLVNEVTEFAKTCVADESAENCDKSLHTLFGDKLCTVATLRETYGEMADCCAKQE...",
      "number_of_residues": 609,
      "gene_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0010372|Serum albumin (ALB)\nATGAAGTGGGTAACCTTTATTTCCCTTCTTTTTCTCTTTAGCTCGGCTTATTCCAGGGGT\nGTGTTTCGTCGAGATGCACACAAGAGTGAGGTTGCTCATCGGTTTAAAGATTT...",
      "synonyms": [
        "Serum albumin precursor"
      ],
      "go_classes": [
        {
          "category": "component",
          "description": "blood microparticle",
          "go_id": null
        },
        {
          "category": "component",
          "description": "endoplasmic reticulum",
          "go_id": null
        },
        "..."
      ],
      "pfams": [
        {
          "identifier": "PF00273",
          "name": "Serum_albumin"
        }
      ],
      "references": [
        {
          "pubmed_id": 6171778,
          "citation": "Lawn RM, Adelman J, Bock SC, Franke AE, Houck CM, Najarian RC, Seeburg PH, Wion KL: The sequence of human serum albumin cDNA and its expression in E..."
        },
        {
          "pubmed_id": 6275391,
          "citation": "Dugaiczyk A, Law SW, Dennison OE: Nucleotide sequence and the encoded amino acids of human serum albumin mRNA..."
        },
        "..."
      ],
      "bio_entities": [
        {
          "id": "BE0000530",
          "name": "Serum albumin",
          "kind": "protein"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "small_molecules": [],
  "sequences": []
}

This endpoint retrieves a specific bio-entity based on BioEntity ID.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bio_entities/<ID>

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The BioEntity ID of the bio-entity to retrieve.

Get a list of bio-entities

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bio_entities' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "id": "BE0009998",
    "name": "30S ribosomal protein",
    "kind": "group",
    "organism": null,
    "ncbi_taxonomy_id": null,
    "description": "Group which encompasses the subunits of the 30S ribosomal protein not specific to any organism.",
    "synonyms": null,
    "polypeptides": [],
    "small_molecules": [],
    "sequences": []
  }
]

This endpoint returns a list of biological entities that a drug may interact with as a target, enzyme, carrier, or transporter.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bio_entities

Get a list of bio-entities by ID

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bio_entities?ids=BE0000530,BE0004828' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "id": "BE0000530",
    "name": "Serum albumin",
    "kind": "protein",
    "organism": "Humans",
    "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid9606",
    "description": null,
    "synonyms": null,
    "polypeptides": [
      {
        "id": "P02768",
        "uniprot_id": "P02768",
        "uniprot_ids": [
          "P02768",
          "E7ESS9",
          "..."
        ],
        "name": "Serum albumin",
        "uniprot_name": "ALBU_HUMAN",
        "organism": "Humans",
        "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid9606",
        "gene_name": "ALB",
        "molecular_weight": "69365.94",
        "theoretical_pi": "6.21",
        "general_function": "Toxic substance binding",
        "specific_function": "Serum albumin, the main protein of plasma, has a good binding capacity for water, Ca(2+), Na(+), K(+), fatty acids, hormones, bilirubin and drugs...",
        "signal_regions": [
          "1-18"
        ],
        "transmembrane_regions": [],
        "chromosome_location": "4",
        "locus": "4q11-q13",
        "tissue_specificity": null,
        "cofactor": null,
        "subunit": null,
        "cellular_location": "Secreted",
        "external_links": {
          "pdb_ids": [
            "1AO6",
            "1BJ5",
            "..."
          ],
          "genbank_gene_id": "V00494",
          "genbank_protein_id": "28590",
          "genecard_id": null,
          "genatlas_id": "ALB",
          "hgnc_id": "HGNC:399",
          "kegg_id": "hsa:213",
          "meta_cyc_id": null,
          "ncbi_sequence_ids": null
        },
        "amino_acid_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0001058|Serum albumin\nMKWVTFISLLFLFSSAYSRGVFRRDAHKSEVAHRFKDLGEENFKALVLIAFAQYLQQCPF\nEDHVKLVNEVTEFAKTCVADESAENCDKSLHTLFGDKLCTVATLRETYGEMADCCAKQE...",
        "number_of_residues": 609,
        "gene_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0010372|Serum albumin (ALB)\nATGAAGTGGGTAACCTTTATTTCCCTTCTTTTTCTCTTTAGCTCGGCTTATTCCAGGGGT\nGTGTTTCGTCGAGATGCACACAAGAGTGAGGTTGCTCATCGGTTTAAAGATTT...",
        "synonyms": [
          "Serum albumin precursor"
        ],
        "go_classes": [
          {
            "category": "component",
            "description": "blood microparticle",
            "go_id": null
          },
          {
            "category": "component",
            "description": "endoplasmic reticulum",
            "go_id": null
          },
          "..."
        ],
        "pfams": [
          {
            "identifier": "PF00273",
            "name": "Serum_albumin"
          }
        ],
        "references": [
          {
            "pubmed_id": 6171778,
            "citation": "Lawn RM, Adelman J, Bock SC, Franke AE, Houck CM, Najarian RC, Seeburg PH, Wion KL: The sequence of human serum albumin cDNA and its expression in E..."
          },
          {
            "pubmed_id": 6275391,
            "citation": "Dugaiczyk A, Law SW, Dennison OE: Nucleotide sequence and the encoded amino acids of human serum albumin mRNA..."
          },
          "..."
        ],
        "bio_entities": [
          {
            "id": "BE0000530",
            "name": "Serum albumin",
            "kind": "protein"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "small_molecules": [],
    "sequences": []
  },
  {
    "id": "BE0004828",
    "name": "Adenosine",
    "kind": "small molecule",
    "organism": "Humans",
    "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid9606",
    "description": null,
    "synonyms": null,
    "polypeptides": [],
    "small_molecules": [
      {
        "id": "BMOL0000023",
        "name": "Adenosine",
        "bio_entities": [
          {
            "id": "BE0004828",
            "name": "Adenosine"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "sequences": []
  }
]

This endpoint retrieves a list of bio-entity records based on BioEntity IDs.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bio_entities?ids=<ids>

URL Parameters

Parameter Default Description
ids null A comma separated string of BioEntity IDs to retrieve records for.

Bio-entity Filtering

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bio_entities/small_molecules' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "id": "BE0004828",
    "name": "Adenosine",
    "kind": "small molecule",
    "organism": "Humans",
    "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid9606",
    "description": null,
    "synonyms": null,
    "polypeptides": [],
    "small_molecules": [
      {
        "id": "BMOL0000023",
        "name": "Adenosine",
        "bio_entities": [
          {
            "id": "BE0004828",
            "name": "Adenosine"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "sequences": []
  }
]

Bio-entities can be also filtered by type, by appending the type to the end of the request url.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bio_entities/<bio_entity_type>

Bio-entity Types

Type Description
proteins Bio-entities composed of a single protein
protein_groups Bio-entities composed of multiple proteins
nucleotides Bio-entities composed of nucleotides (DNA or RNA)
small_molecules Bio-entities composed of a a small molecule compound

Bio-entity Searching

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bio_entities?q=polypeptides.name:"alcohol+dehydrogenase"+AND+organism:humans' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "hits": [
      {
        "field": "polypeptides.name",
        "value": "<em>Alcohol</em> <em>dehydrogenase</em> 1B"
      },
      {
        "field": "organism",
        "value": "<em>Humans</em>"
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "id": "BE0000400",
    "name": "Alcohol dehydrogenase 1B",
    "kind": "protein",
    "organism": "Humans",
    "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid9606",
    "description": null,
    "synonyms": null,
    "polypeptides": [
      {
        "id": "P00325",
        "uniprot_id": "P00325",
        "uniprot_ids": [
          "P00325",
          "A8MYN5",
          "..."
        ],
        "name": "Alcohol dehydrogenase 1B",
        "uniprot_name": "ADH1B_HUMAN",
        "organism": "Humans",
        "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid9606",
        "gene_name": "ADH1B",
        "molecular_weight": "39854.21",
        "theoretical_pi": "8.38",
        "general_function": "Zinc ion binding",
        "specific_function": null,
        "signal_regions": [],
        "transmembrane_regions": [],
        "chromosome_location": "4",
        "locus": "4q21-q23",
        "tissue_specificity": null,
        "cofactor": null,
        "subunit": null,
        "cellular_location": "Cytoplasm",
        "external_links": {
          "pdb_ids": [
            "1DEH",
            "1HDX",
            "..."
          ],
          "genbank_gene_id": "M24317",
          "genbank_protein_id": "178098",
          "genecard_id": null,
          "genatlas_id": "ADH1B",
          "hgnc_id": "HGNC:250",
          "kegg_id": "hsa:125",
          "meta_cyc_id": null,
          "ncbi_sequence_ids": null
        },
        "amino_acid_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0037009|Alcohol dehydrogenase 1B\nMSTAGKVIKCKAAVLWEVKKPFSIEDVEVAPPKAYEVRIKMVAVGICRTDDHVVSGNLVT\nPLPVILGHEAAGIVESVGEGVTTVKPGDKVIPLFTPQCGKCRVCKNPE...",
        "number_of_residues": 375,
        "gene_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0018945|Alcohol dehydrogenase 1B (ADH1B)\nATGAGCACAGCAGGAAAAGTAATCAAATGCAAAGCAGCTGTGCTATGGGAGGTAAAGAAA\nCCCTTTTCCATTGAGGATGTGGAGGTTGCACCTCCTAAGG...",
        "synonyms": [
          "1.1.1.1",
          "ADH2",
          "..."
        ],
        "go_classes": [
          {
            "category": "component",
            "description": "cytosol",
            "go_id": null
          },
          {
            "category": "function",
            "description": "alcohol dehydrogenase activity, zinc-dependent",
            "go_id": null
          },
          "..."
        ],
        "pfams": [
          {
            "identifier": "PF08240",
            "name": "ADH_N"
          },
          {
            "identifier": "PF00107",
            "name": "ADH_zinc_N"
          }
        ],
        "references": [
          {
            "pubmed_id": 2986130,
            "citation": "Ikuta T, Fujiyoshi T, Kurachi K, Yoshida A: Molecular cloning of a full-length cDNA for human alcohol dehydrogenase..."
          },
          {
            "pubmed_id": 3000832,
            "citation": "Heden LO, Hoog JO, Larsson K, Lake M, Lagerholm E, Holmgren A, Vallee BL, Jornvall H, von Bahr-Lindstrom H: cDNA clones coding for the beta-subunit of ..."
          },
          "..."
        ],
        "bio_entities": [
          {
            "id": "BE0000400",
            "name": "Alcohol dehydrogenase 1B",
            "kind": "protein"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "small_molecules": [],
    "sequences": []
  }
]

Bio-entities can be searched via simple or complex queries. Using a simple q parameter will search across all available fields.

You can also perform advanced searching based on the Lucene query language. The search supports boolean logic (AND, OR, NOT operations). To match a string exactly, place quotes around your search term (for example “acetic acid” will only match the acetic followed by acid, it will not match acetic or acid alone). You can also search using “wild cards” by inserting a * in your search term. For example, searching for acet* will match all words starting with “acet”. In addition, text search supports parenthetical groupings, and prepended +plus and -minus operators.

The search can also be narrowed to specific fields by prepending your query term with the field name followed by a semi-colon. For example, to search for bio-entities in humans, you could use organism:humans. Searcheable fields are listed in the table below.

Note that searching can be performed in the same way on requests filtered by type (described above).

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bio_entities?q=<query_string>

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.

Searchable Fields

Field Description
name Name of the bio-entity.
organism Name of the organism the bio-entity is found in.
polypeptides.uniprot_id Primary UniProt id of polypeptides that make up the bio-entity.
polypeptides.name Name of polypeptides that make up the bio-entity.
polypeptides.gene_name Gene name of polypeptides that make up the bio-entity.
small_molecules.name Name of molecules that make up the bio-entity.
gene_sequences.name Name of gene sequences that make up the bio-entity.
rna_sequences.name Name of RNA sequences that make up the bio-entity.
amino_acid_sequences.name Name of amino acid sequences that make up the bio-entity.

Notice the hits array returned in the results. The hits contain highlighted snippets from the match. You can use these highlights in autocomplete applications. The matching part of the text is wrapped in an <em> tag, which you can style as you wish in your application. Note that the hitsarray only contains matches in the most relevant fields, and may no be present in all searches.

Get bonds for a bio-entities

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bio_entities/BE0002194/bonds' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "type": "Enzyme",
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00316",
      "name": "Acetaminophen"
    },
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0002194",
      "name": "Fatty-acid amide hydrolase 1",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "inhibition_strength": null,
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A18702",
          "pubmed_id": 15987694,
          "citation": "Hogestatt ED, Jonsson BA, Ermund A, Andersson DA, Bjork H, Alexander JP, Cravatt BF, Basbaum AI, Zygmunt PM: Conversion of acetaminophen to the bioacti..."
        },
        {
          "ref_id": "A176375",
          "pubmed_id": 22750843,
          "citation": "Zaitone SA, El-Wakeil AF, Abou-El-Ela SH: Inhibition of fatty acid amide hydrolase by URB597 attenuates the anxiolytic-like effect of acetaminophen in ..."
        },
        "..."
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "Target",
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00599",
      "name": "Thiopental"
    },
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0002194",
      "name": "Fatty-acid amide hydrolase 1",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "known_action": "unknown",
    "actions": [
      "inhibitor"
    ],
    "inhibition_strength": "unknown",
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A13497",
          "pubmed_id": 12839875,
          "citation": "Patel S, Wohlfeil ER, Rademacher DJ, Carrier EJ, Perry LJ, Kundu A, Falck JR, Nithipatikom K, Campbell WB, Hillard CJ: The general anesthetic propofol ..."
        },
        {
          "ref_id": "A9",
          "pubmed_id": 11752352,
          "citation": "Chen X, Ji ZL, Chen YZ: TTD: Therapeutic Target Database. Nucleic Acids Res. 2002 Jan 1;30(1):412-5."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  "..."
]

This endpoint returns a list of target, enzyme, carrier, and/or transporter bonds that involve the given bio-entities.

Note that these bonds can be filtered and searched in the same way as described in the Bonds section below.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/bio_entities/<ID>/bonds

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The ID of the bio-entity to retrieve the bonds

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.

Polypeptides

Get a specific polypeptide

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/polypeptides/P49189' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

{
  "id": "P49189",
  "uniprot_id": "P49189",
  "uniprot_ids": [
    "P49189",
    "B2R6X1",
    "..."
  ],
  "name": "4-trimethylaminobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase",
  "uniprot_name": "AL9A1_HUMAN",
  "organism": "Humans",
  "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid9606",
  "gene_name": "ALDH9A1",
  "molecular_weight": "53801.495",
  "theoretical_pi": "5.61",
  "general_function": "Aminobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase activity",
  "specific_function": "Converts gamma-trimethylaminobutyraldehyde into gamma-butyrobetaine...",
  "signal_regions": [],
  "transmembrane_regions": [],
  "chromosome_location": "1",
  "locus": "1q23.1",
  "tissue_specificity": null,
  "cofactor": null,
  "subunit": null,
  "cellular_location": "Cytoplasm",
  "external_links": {
    "pdb_ids": [],
    "genbank_gene_id": "U34252",
    "genbank_protein_id": "1049219",
    "genecard_id": null,
    "genatlas_id": "ALDH9A1",
    "hgnc_id": "HGNC:412",
    "kegg_id": "hsa:223",
    "meta_cyc_id": null,
    "ncbi_sequence_ids": null
  },
  "amino_acid_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0000571|4-trimethylaminobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase\nMSTGTFVVSQPLNYRGGARVEPADASGTEKAFEPATGRVIATFTCSGEKEVNLAVQNAKA\nAFKIWSQKSGMERCRILLEAARIIRERED...",
  "number_of_residues": 494,
  "gene_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0010063|4-trimethylaminobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH9A1)\nATGTTTCTCCGAGCAGGCCTGGCCGCGCTCTCCCCGCTTCTTCGCAGTCTTCGGCCCTCT\nCCTGTCGCCGCCATGAGCA...",
  "synonyms": [
    "1.2.1.47",
    "Aldehyde dehydrogenase E3 isozyme",
    "..."
  ],
  "go_classes": [
    {
      "category": "component",
      "description": "cytoplasm",
      "go_id": null
    },
    {
      "category": "component",
      "description": "cytosol",
      "go_id": null
    },
    "..."
  ],
  "pfams": [
    {
      "identifier": "PF00171",
      "name": "Aldedh"
    }
  ],
  "references": [
    {
      "pubmed_id": 8786138,
      "citation": "Lin SW, Chen JC, Hsu LC, Hsieh CL, Yoshida A: Human gamma-aminobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH9): cDNA sequence, genomic organization, polymorphism, ..."
    },
    {
      "pubmed_id": 10702312,
      "citation": "Vaz FM, Fouchier SW, Ofman R, Sommer M, Wanders RJ: Molecular and biochemical characterization of rat gamma-trimethylaminobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase a..."
    },
    "..."
  ],
  "bio_entities": [
    {
      "id": "BE0000287",
      "name": "4-trimethylaminobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase",
      "kind": "protein"
    }
  ]
}

This endpoint retrieves a specific polypeptide based on UniProt ID.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/polypeptides/<ID>

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The UniProt ID of the polypeptides to retrieve.

Get a list of polypeptides

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/polypeptides' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "id": "P9WFF5",
    "uniprot_id": "P9WFF5",
    "uniprot_ids": [
      "P9WFF5",
      "L0T8K3",
      "..."
    ],
    "name": "(2Z,6E)-farnesyl diphosphate synthase",
    "uniprot_name": "ZFPP_MYCTU",
    "organism": "Mycobacterium tuberculosis (strain ATCC 25618 / H37Rv)",
    "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid83332",
    "gene_name": null,
    "molecular_weight": "29409.955",
    "theoretical_pi": null,
    "general_function": "Catalyzes the condensation of only one isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) unit in the cis configuration to E-geranyl diphosphate (E-GPP) generating the 15...",
    "specific_function": "Magnesium ion binding",
    "signal_regions": [],
    "transmembrane_regions": [],
    "chromosome_location": null,
    "locus": null,
    "tissue_specificity": null,
    "cofactor": null,
    "subunit": null,
    "cellular_location": "Cytoplasm",
    "external_links": {
      "pdb_ids": [
        "2VFW",
        "2VG0",
        "..."
      ],
      "genbank_gene_id": null,
      "genbank_protein_id": null,
      "genecard_id": null,
      "genatlas_id": null,
      "hgnc_id": null,
      "kegg_id": "mtu:Rv1086",
      "meta_cyc_id": null,
      "ncbi_sequence_ids": null
    },
    "amino_acid_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0051237|(2Z,6E)-farnesyl diphosphate synthase\nMEIIPPRLKEPLYRLYELRLRQGLAASKSDLPRHIAVLCDGNRRWARSAGYDDVSYGYRM\nGAAKIAEMLRWCHEAGIELATVYLLSTENLQRDPD...",
    "number_of_residues": 262,
    "gene_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0051238|(2Z,6E)-farnesyl diphosphate synthase\nGTGGAGATCATCCCGCCGCGGCTCAAAGAGCCGTTGTACCGGCTCTACGAGCTGCGCCTG\nCGGCAGGGCTTGGCCGCCTCGAAATCCGACCTGCC...",
    "synonyms": [
      "2.5.1.68",
      "Short-chain Z-isoprenyl diphosphate synthase",
      "..."
    ],
    "go_classes": [
      {
        "category": "component",
        "description": "cytosol",
        "go_id": null
      },
      {
        "category": "component",
        "description": "plasma membrane",
        "go_id": null
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "pfams": [
      {
        "identifier": "PF01255",
        "name": "Prenyltransf"
      }
    ],
    "references": [
      {
        "pubmed_id": 9634230,
        "citation": "Cole ST, Brosch R, Parkhill J, Garnier T, Churcher C, Harris D, Gordon SV, Eiglmeier K, Gas S, Barry CE 3rd, Tekaia F, Badcock K, Basham D, Brown D, Ch..."
      },
      {
        "pubmed_id": 11004176,
        "citation": "Crick DC, Schulbach MC, Zink EE, Macchia M, Barontini S, Besra GS, Brennan PJ: Polyprenyl phosphate biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Myco..."
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "bio_entities": [
      {
        "id": "BE0004093",
        "name": "(2Z,6E)-farnesyl diphosphate synthase",
        "kind": "protein"
      }
    ]
  }
]

This endpoint returns a list of polypeptides involved in drug target, enzyme, carrier, and transporter bonds.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/polypeptides

Get a list of polypeptides by ID

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/polypeptides?ids=P9WFF5,P51648' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "id": "P9WFF5",
    "uniprot_id": "P9WFF5",
    "uniprot_ids": [
      "P9WFF5",
      "L0T8K3",
      "..."
    ],
    "name": "(2Z,6E)-farnesyl diphosphate synthase",
    "uniprot_name": "ZFPP_MYCTU",
    "organism": "Mycobacterium tuberculosis (strain ATCC 25618 / H37Rv)",
    "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid83332",
    "gene_name": null,
    "molecular_weight": "29409.955",
    "theoretical_pi": null,
    "general_function": "Catalyzes the condensation of only one isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) unit in the cis configuration to E-geranyl diphosphate (E-GPP) generating the 15...",
    "specific_function": "Magnesium ion binding",
    "signal_regions": [],
    "transmembrane_regions": [],
    "chromosome_location": null,
    "locus": null,
    "tissue_specificity": null,
    "cofactor": null,
    "subunit": null,
    "cellular_location": "Cytoplasm",
    "external_links": {
      "pdb_ids": [
        "2VFW",
        "2VG0",
        "..."
      ],
      "genbank_gene_id": null,
      "genbank_protein_id": null,
      "genecard_id": null,
      "genatlas_id": null,
      "hgnc_id": null,
      "kegg_id": "mtu:Rv1086",
      "meta_cyc_id": null,
      "ncbi_sequence_ids": null
    },
    "amino_acid_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0051237|(2Z,6E)-farnesyl diphosphate synthase\nMEIIPPRLKEPLYRLYELRLRQGLAASKSDLPRHIAVLCDGNRRWARSAGYDDVSYGYRM\nGAAKIAEMLRWCHEAGIELATVYLLSTENLQRDPD...",
    "number_of_residues": 262,
    "gene_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0051238|(2Z,6E)-farnesyl diphosphate synthase\nGTGGAGATCATCCCGCCGCGGCTCAAAGAGCCGTTGTACCGGCTCTACGAGCTGCGCCTG\nCGGCAGGGCTTGGCCGCCTCGAAATCCGACCTGCC...",
    "synonyms": [
      "2.5.1.68",
      "Short-chain Z-isoprenyl diphosphate synthase",
      "..."
    ],
    "go_classes": [
      {
        "category": "component",
        "description": "cytosol",
        "go_id": null
      },
      {
        "category": "component",
        "description": "plasma membrane",
        "go_id": null
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "pfams": [
      {
        "identifier": "PF01255",
        "name": "Prenyltransf"
      }
    ],
    "references": [
      {
        "pubmed_id": 9634230,
        "citation": "Cole ST, Brosch R, Parkhill J, Garnier T, Churcher C, Harris D, Gordon SV, Eiglmeier K, Gas S, Barry CE 3rd, Tekaia F, Badcock K, Basham D, Brown D, Ch..."
      },
      {
        "pubmed_id": 11004176,
        "citation": "Crick DC, Schulbach MC, Zink EE, Macchia M, Barontini S, Besra GS, Brennan PJ: Polyprenyl phosphate biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Myco..."
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "bio_entities": [
      {
        "id": "BE0004093",
        "name": "(2Z,6E)-farnesyl diphosphate synthase",
        "kind": "protein"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "id": "P51648",
    "uniprot_id": "P51648",
    "uniprot_ids": [
      "P51648",
      "Q6I9T3",
      "..."
    ],
    "name": "Fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase",
    "uniprot_name": "AL3A2_HUMAN",
    "organism": "Humans",
    "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid9606",
    "gene_name": "ALDH3A2",
    "molecular_weight": "54847.36",
    "theoretical_pi": "7.99",
    "general_function": "Medium-chain-aldehyde dehydrogenase activity",
    "specific_function": "Catalyzes the oxidation of long-chain aliphatic aldehydes to fatty acids...",
    "signal_regions": [],
    "transmembrane_regions": [
      "464-480"
    ],
    "chromosome_location": "17",
    "locus": "17p11.2",
    "tissue_specificity": null,
    "cofactor": null,
    "subunit": null,
    "cellular_location": "Endoplasmic reticulum membrane",
    "external_links": {
      "pdb_ids": [
        "4QGK"
      ],
      "genbank_gene_id": "L47162",
      "genbank_protein_id": "1082036",
      "genecard_id": null,
      "genatlas_id": "ALDH3A2",
      "hgnc_id": "HGNC:403",
      "kegg_id": "hsa:224",
      "meta_cyc_id": null,
      "ncbi_sequence_ids": null
    },
    "amino_acid_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0001197|Fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase\nMELEVRRVRQAFLSGRSRPLRFRLQQLEALRRMVQEREKDILTAIAADLCKSEFNVYSQE\nVITVLGEIDFMLENLPEWVTAKPVKKNVLTMLDEAYIQPQPLGV...",
    "number_of_residues": 485,
    "gene_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0020470|Fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH3A2)\nATGGAGCTCGAAGTCCGGCGGGTCCGACAGGCGTTCCTGTCCGGCCGGTCGCGACCTCTG\nCGGTTTCGGCTGCAGCAGCTGGAGGCCCTGCGGA...",
    "synonyms": [
      "1.2.1.3",
      "Aldehyde dehydrogenase 10",
      "..."
    ],
    "go_classes": [
      {
        "category": "component",
        "description": "endoplasmic reticulum membrane",
        "go_id": null
      },
      {
        "category": "component",
        "description": "extracellular exosome",
        "go_id": null
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "pfams": [
      {
        "identifier": "PF00171",
        "name": "Aldedh"
      }
    ],
    "references": [
      {
        "pubmed_id": 8528251,
        "citation": "De Laurenzi V, Rogers GR, Hamrock DJ, Marekov LN, Steinert PM, Compton JG, Markova N, Rizzo WB: Sjogren-Larsson syndrome is caused by mutations in the ..."
      },
      {
        "pubmed_id": 9027499,
        "citation": "Rogers GR, Markova NG, De Laurenzi V, Rizzo WB, Compton JG: Genomic organization and expression of the human fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase gene (FALDH)..."
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "bio_entities": [
      {
        "id": "BE0000600",
        "name": "Fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase",
        "kind": "protein"
      }
    ]
  }
]

This endpoint retrieves a list of polypeptides records based on UniProt IDs.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/polypeptides?ids=<ids>

URL Parameters

Parameter Default Description
ids null A comma separated string of UniProt IDs to retrieve records for.

Polypeptide Searching

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/polypeptides?q=name:"aldehyde+dehydrogenase"+AND+organism:humans' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "hits": [
      {
        "field": "organism",
        "value": "<em>Humans</em>"
      },
      {
        "field": "name",
        "value": "Fatty <em>aldehyde</em> <em>dehydrogenase</em>"
      }
    ],
    "id": "P51648",
    "uniprot_id": "P51648",
    "uniprot_ids": [
      "P51648",
      "Q6I9T3",
      "..."
    ],
    "name": "Fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase",
    "uniprot_name": "AL3A2_HUMAN",
    "organism": "Humans",
    "ncbi_taxonomy_id": "NCBI:txid9606",
    "gene_name": "ALDH3A2",
    "molecular_weight": "54847.36",
    "theoretical_pi": "7.99",
    "general_function": "Medium-chain-aldehyde dehydrogenase activity",
    "specific_function": "Catalyzes the oxidation of long-chain aliphatic aldehydes to fatty acids...",
    "signal_regions": [],
    "transmembrane_regions": [
      "464-480"
    ],
    "chromosome_location": "17",
    "locus": "17p11.2",
    "tissue_specificity": null,
    "cofactor": null,
    "subunit": null,
    "cellular_location": "Endoplasmic reticulum membrane",
    "external_links": {
      "pdb_ids": [
        "4QGK"
      ],
      "genbank_gene_id": "L47162",
      "genbank_protein_id": "1082036",
      "genecard_id": null,
      "genatlas_id": "ALDH3A2",
      "hgnc_id": "HGNC:403",
      "kegg_id": "hsa:224",
      "meta_cyc_id": null,
      "ncbi_sequence_ids": null
    },
    "amino_acid_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0001197|Fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase\nMELEVRRVRQAFLSGRSRPLRFRLQQLEALRRMVQEREKDILTAIAADLCKSEFNVYSQE\nVITVLGEIDFMLENLPEWVTAKPVKKNVLTMLDEAYIQPQPLGV...",
    "number_of_residues": 485,
    "gene_sequence": ">lcl|BSEQ0020470|Fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH3A2)\nATGGAGCTCGAAGTCCGGCGGGTCCGACAGGCGTTCCTGTCCGGCCGGTCGCGACCTCTG\nCGGTTTCGGCTGCAGCAGCTGGAGGCCCTGCGGA...",
    "synonyms": [
      "1.2.1.3",
      "Aldehyde dehydrogenase 10",
      "..."
    ],
    "go_classes": [
      {
        "category": "component",
        "description": "endoplasmic reticulum membrane",
        "go_id": null
      },
      {
        "category": "component",
        "description": "extracellular exosome",
        "go_id": null
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "pfams": [
      {
        "identifier": "PF00171",
        "name": "Aldedh"
      }
    ],
    "references": [
      {
        "pubmed_id": 8528251,
        "citation": "De Laurenzi V, Rogers GR, Hamrock DJ, Marekov LN, Steinert PM, Compton JG, Markova N, Rizzo WB: Sjogren-Larsson syndrome is caused by mutations in the ..."
      },
      {
        "pubmed_id": 9027499,
        "citation": "Rogers GR, Markova NG, De Laurenzi V, Rizzo WB, Compton JG: Genomic organization and expression of the human fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase gene (FALDH)..."
      },
      "..."
    ],
    "bio_entities": [
      {
        "id": "BE0000600",
        "name": "Fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase",
        "kind": "protein"
      }
    ]
  }
]

Polypeptides can be searched via simple or complex queries. Using a simple q parameter will search across all available fields.

You can also perform advanced searching based on the Lucene query language. The search supports boolean logic (AND, OR, NOT operations). To match a string exactly, place quotes around your search term (for example “acetic acid” will only match the acetic followed by acid, it will not match acetic or acid alone). You can also search using “wild cards” by inserting a * in your search term. For example, searching for acet* will match all words starting with “acet”. In addition, text search supports parenthetical groupings, and prepended +plus and -minus operators.

The search can also be narrowed to specific fields by prepending your query term with the field name followed by a semi-colon. For example, to search for polypeptides in humans, you could use organism:humans. Searcheable fields are listed in the table below.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/polypeptides?q=<query_string>

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.

Searchable Fields

Field Description
uniprot_id Primary UniProt id of the polypeptide.
name Name of the polypeptide.
gene_name Gene name of the polypeptide.
organism Name of the organism the polypeptide is found in.

Notice the hits array returned in the results. The hits contain highlighted snippets from the match. You can use these highlights in autocomplete applications. The matching part of the text is wrapped in an <em> tag, which you can style as you wish in your application. Note that the hitsarray only contains matches in the most relevant fields, and may no be present in all searches.

Get bonds for a polypeptide

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/polypeptides/P49189/bonds' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "type": "Target",
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00157",
      "name": "NADH"
    },
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0000287",
      "name": "4-trimethylaminobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "known_action": "unknown",
    "actions": [],
    "inhibition_strength": null,
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A1713",
          "pubmed_id": 17139284,
          "citation": "Overington JP, Al-Lazikani B, Hopkins AL: How many drug targets are there? Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2006 Dec;5(12):993-6."
        },
        {
          "ref_id": "A1715",
          "pubmed_id": 17016423,
          "citation": "Imming P, Sinning C, Meyer A: Drugs, their targets and the nature and number of drug targets. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2006 Oct;5(10):821-34."
        },
        "..."
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  }
]

This endpoint returns a list of target, enzyme, carrier, and/or transporter bonds that involve the given polypeptide.

Note that these bonds can be filtered and searched in the same way as described in the Bonds section below.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/polypeptides/<ID>/bonds

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The UniProt ID of the polypeptide to retrieve the bonds

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.

Get SNPs for a polypeptide

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/polypeptides/P12318/snps' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "drugbank_id": "DBSNPE000153",
    "alternate_drugbank_ids": [],
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00002",
      "name": "Cetuximab"
    },
    "protein_name": "Low affinity immunoglobulin gamma Fc region receptor II-a",
    "gene_symbol": "FCGR2A",
    "uniprot_id": "P12318",
    "action_types": [
      "Effect",
      "Directly Studied"
    ],
    "allele": null,
    "genotypes": [
      "(C;T)",
      "(T;T)"
    ],
    "repute": "good",
    "description": "Patients with this genotype may have increased progression-free survival time when using cetuximab to treat colorectal cancer.",
    "reverse_description": "Patients with this genotype have normal progression-free survival time when using cetuximab to treat colorectal cancer.",
    "defining_changes": [
      {
        "rs_id": "rs1801274",
        "change": "H allelle",
        "orientation": "minus"
      }
    ],
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A13078",
          "pubmed_id": 17704420,
          "citation": "Zhang W, Gordon M, Schultheis AM, Yang DY, Nagashima F, Azuma M, Chang HM, Borucka E, Lurje G, Sherrod AE, Iqbal S, Groshen S, Lenz HJ: FCGR2A and FCGR..."
        }
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  }
]

This endpoint returns a list of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) involving the given polypeptide.

Note that these SNPs can be filtered and searched in the same way as described in the SNPs section below.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/polypeptides/<ID>/snps

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The UniProt ID of the polypeptide to retrieve the SNPs

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.
include_inferred false Also include SNPs that have only been inferred, not directly studied.

Molecules

Get a specific molecule

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/molecules/BMOL0000023' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

{
  "id": "BMOL0000023",
  "name": "Adenosine",
  "bio_entities": [
    {
      "id": "BE0004828",
      "name": "Adenosine"
    }
  ]
}

This endpoint retrieves a specific molecules based on Molecule ID.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/molecules/<ID>

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The Molecule ID of the molecules to retrieve.

Get a list of molecules

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/molecules' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "id": "BMOL0000023",
    "name": "Adenosine",
    "bio_entities": [
      {
        "id": "BE0004828",
        "name": "Adenosine"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "id": "BMOL0000038",
    "name": "Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)",
    "bio_entities": [
      {
        "id": "BE0008669",
        "name": "Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)"
      }
    ]
  },
  "..."
]

This endpoint returns a list of small molecules involved in drug target, enzyme, carrier, and transporter bonds.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/molecules

Get a list of molecules by ID

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/molecules?ids=BMOL0000023,BMOL0000006' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "id": "BMOL0000023",
    "name": "Adenosine",
    "bio_entities": [
      {
        "id": "BE0004828",
        "name": "Adenosine"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "id": "BMOL0000006",
    "name": "Iron",
    "bio_entities": []
  }
]

This endpoint retrieves a list of molecules records based on Molecule IDs.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/molecules?ids=<ids>

URL Parameters

Parameter Default Description
ids null A comma separated string of Molecule IDs to retrieve records for.

Molecule Searching

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/molecules?q=name:adenosine' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "hits": [
      {
        "field": "name",
        "value": "<em>Adenosine</em>"
      }
    ],
    "id": "BMOL0000023",
    "name": "Adenosine",
    "bio_entities": [
      {
        "id": "BE0004828",
        "name": "Adenosine"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "hits": [
      {
        "field": "name",
        "value": "<em>Adenosine</em> triphosphate (ATP)"
      }
    ],
    "id": "BMOL0000038",
    "name": "Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)",
    "bio_entities": [
      {
        "id": "BE0008669",
        "name": "Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)"
      }
    ]
  }
]

Small molecules can be searched via simple or complex queries. Using a simple q parameter will search across all available fields.

You can also perform advanced searching based on the Lucene query language. The search supports boolean logic (AND, OR, NOT operations). To match a string exactly, place quotes around your search term (for example “acetic acid” will only match the acetic followed by acid, it will not match acetic or acid alone). You can also search using “wild cards” by inserting a * in your search term. For example, searching for acet* will match all words starting with “acet”. In addition, text search supports parenthetical groupings, and prepended +plus and -minus operators.

The search can also be narrowed to specific fields by prepending your query term with the field name followed by a semi-colon. Searcheable fields are listed in the table below.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/molecules?q=<query_string>

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.

Searchable Fields

Field Description
name Name of the small molecule.

Notice the hits array returned in the results. The hits contain highlighted snippets from the match. You can use these highlights in autocomplete applications. The matching part of the text is wrapped in an <em> tag, which you can style as you wish in your application. Note that the hitsarray only contains matches in the most relevant fields, and may no be present in all searches.

Get bonds for a molecule

curl -L 'https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/molecules/BMOL0000023/bonds' 
-H 'Authorization: myapikey'

Example command returns JSON structured like this (results may be abbreviated):

[
  {
    "type": "Target",
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB00061",
      "name": "Pegademase"
    },
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0004828",
      "name": "Adenosine",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "known_action": "yes",
    "actions": [
      "metabolizer"
    ],
    "inhibition_strength": null,
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [
        {
          "ref_id": "A1713",
          "pubmed_id": 17139284,
          "citation": "Overington JP, Al-Lazikani B, Hopkins AL: How many drug targets are there? Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2006 Dec;5(12):993-6."
        },
        {
          "ref_id": "A1715",
          "pubmed_id": 17016423,
          "citation": "Imming P, Sinning C, Meyer A: Drugs, their targets and the nature and number of drug targets. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2006 Oct;5(10):821-34."
        },
        "..."
      ],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [],
      "attachments": []
    }
  },
  {
    "type": "Target",
    "drug": {
      "drugbank_id": "DB14712",
      "name": "Elapegademase"
    },
    "bio_entity": {
      "bio_entity_id": "BE0004828",
      "name": "Adenosine",
      "organism": "Humans"
    },
    "known_action": "yes",
    "actions": [
      "metabolizer"
    ],
    "inhibition_strength": null,
    "induction_strength": null,
    "references": {
      "literature_references": [],
      "textbooks": [],
      "external_links": [
        {
          "ref_id": "L11758",
          "title": "FDA Approved Drug Products: Revcovi (elapegademase-lvlr) for intramuscular injection",
          "url": "https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2018/761092s000lbl.pdf"
        }
      ],
      "attachments": []
    }
  }
]

This endpoint returns a list of target, enzyme, carrier, and/or transporter bonds that involve the given small molecule.

Note that these bonds can be filtered and searched in the same way as described in the Bonds section below.

HTTP Request

GET https://api.drugbank.com/discovery/v1/molecules/<ID>/bonds

URL Parameters

Parameter Description
ID The ID of the small molecule to retrieve the bonds

Query Parameters

Parameter Default Description
q null The string you want to search with.