SureChEMBL2.0 announcement

 

Dear SureChEMBL users,

 

Last year, we asked for your feedback on what you wanted to see next from SureChEMBL. Your input didn’t disappear into the void—quite the opposite! While it may have seemed quiet on the surface, we've been working hard behind the scenes: fixing bugs, implementing new features, and laying the groundwork for major improvements.
 

Today, we’re excited to share that we’ve reached a significant milestone—and we’re marking the occasion with a new name. Without further delay...

🎉 SureChEMBL 2.0 is here! 🎉

 

This is the first in a series of blog posts describing SureChEMBL 2.0:

1. Introduction to SureChEMBL 2.0 and new data source (see below)
2. Major changes to the download data
3. Integration of RDKit into the processing pipeline

Further posts will be added over the next few weeks and linked to from here.

 

What’s New in SureChEMBL 2.0?

This release marks a major evolution of the system we inherited over a decade ago. We've replaced several core components of the pipeline—from annotation, to compound registration, to data provision. When we introduced the new SureChEMBL architecture in December 2023, we promised a system that would be “easier to support, and it should make it much easier to develop and deliver new functionalities”. Now, we're delivering on that promise.
One of the biggest challenges with legacy infrastructure (SureChEMBL originated from SureChem, remember?) was understanding every layer of its complex, ageing architecture. With SureChEMBL 2.0, we've rebuilt enough of the pipeline to give us full ownership and clarity—particularly over annotation, the heart of what we do.

New Data Source

Let’s start with one of the most exciting updates: we’ve added the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) to our list of patent authorities! We now integrate data from five authorities:
    •    USPTO


    •    WIPO


    •    EPO


    •    JPO


    •    CNIPA


However, what we get from each varies. While we receive rich content—including attachments and full text—for USPTO, EPO, and WIPO, we only get titles and abstracts from JPO, and translated full text (no attachments) from CNIPA.

Authorities	Kind	Language	From	Full text	Attachments
CNIPA	Applications	EN	1985	Yes (English translation)	No
	Granted
EPO	Applications	DE, EN, FR	1978	Yes	Yes
	Granted		1980
JPO	Applications	EN	1976	Yes (abstract)	No
USPTO	Applications	EN	2001	Yes	Yes
	Granted		1920-1949	Yes (abstract)	Yes
			1950-1975	Yes (abstract & claims)	Yes
			1976	Yes	Yes
WIPO	Applications	EN, FR	1978	Yes	Yes

 

Let’s Talk Numbers

Here’s a snapshot of how many documents and chemical structures we’ve identified from each authority. While many patents are unrelated to chemistry (and won’t contain chemical structures), all documents remain accessible via the SureChEMBL web interface—keeping it a universal patent search portal.
Notably:
    •    USPTO (21M) has fewer documents than CNIPA or JPO, but contributes the most unique compounds (20M), thanks to the availability of the MOL and CDX attachments included in the Complex Work Unit (CWU).


    •    CNIPA (51M) and JPO (30M) lead in patent volume, but limited data access results in fewer compounds (4M and 193K respectively).


    •    EPO (9M) and WIPO (6M) have fewer patents but more chemical structures (13M and 11M, respectively), thanks to our image-to-structure extraction pipeline.    

Authorities	#Patents	#Annotated Patents	#Unique Compounds
CNIPA	51,134,665	19,843,662	3,882,257
EPO	8,685,902	5,893,457	12,637,484
JPO	29,661,823	3,430,164	193,340
USPTO	21,243,929	11,261,705	19,903,544
WIPO	5,873,483	3,870,512	11,144,795

What’s Next?

This is just the beginning. As we roll out more updates to our pipeline, you’ll see improvements in annotation quality and chemical extraction across all authorities. Stay tuned—we’ll keep you informed through our blog post .

The SureChEMBL team