Collaborative Drug Discovery
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software, Drug discovery informatics |
| Predecessor | Eli Lilly (offshoot) |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | Barry Bunin, PhD |
| Headquarters | Burlingame, California , United States |
Area served | Global |
Key people | Barry Bunin, PhD (Founder) |
| Products | CDD Vault, PharmaKB |
| Website | www |
Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD) is a privately held software firm established in 2004 by Barry Bunin, PhD, as an offshoot from Eli Lilly. Based in Burlingame, California, CDD focuses on delivering web-based informatics tools tailored for managing data in drug discovery. Its primary offering, CDD Vault, is designed to handle small molecule and bioassay data for customers including biotech companies, contract research organizations (CROs), academic institutions, and agrochemical enterprises. In 2021, the company broadened its suite with PharmaKB, a commercial knowledgebase that compiles pharmaceutical company, drug, and disease information aimed at researchers, business analysts, and investors.
Products
1. CDD Vault serves as a protected online platform facilitating chemical registration, management of assay data, and structure–activity relationship (SAR) evaluations. It supports collaborative project workflows across sectors such as life sciences and pharmaceuticals. The platform comprises several core modules:
| Module | Category | Overview |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | Chemical registration system | Oversees the registration of chemical and biological entities alongside assay data management. |
| Activity | Experimental data management | Organizes experimental datasets and provides reporting capabilities. |
| Visualization | Data visualization tools | Allows for the examination of extensive datasets to detect trends and anomalies. |
| Assays | Bioinformatics module | Facilitates standardized assay entry and comparative analysis. |
| ELN | Electronic lab notebook | Combines analytical functions with chemical and assay data storage. |
| Inventory | Inventory control software | Monitors compounds and reagent stock levels. |
| Curves | Dose-response analysis | Performs curve fitting to generate and interpret dose-response outcomes such as IC50 values. |
| AI | Artificial intelligence tools | Offers AI-driven features including compound similarity assessment, synthesis route prediction, bioisosteric recommendations, and patent evaluation. |
| Automation | API integration/data mapping | Enables data connectivity through APIs, parsers, and mapping utilities. |
| CDD Public | Open chemical database | Provides free access to a collection exceeding 3 million molecules to encourage collaborative research. |
2. PharmaKB is an extensive pharmaceutical knowledgebase that consolidates data from preclinical studies, clinical trials, financial records, patents, and post-approval phases concerning companies, drugs, and diseases. Designed for researchers, business intelligence experts, and investors alike, it offers subscription-based real-time updates. PharmaKB extends CDD’s influence beyond early-stage research into areas such as clinical development, pharmacovigilance, regulatory affairs, competitive intelligence within pharma sectors, pharmacoeconomics, and investment analysis—supporting comprehensive strategic planning and market positioning within the pharmaceutical industry.
Collaborations
CDD’s capabilities in enabling inter-organizational collaboration secured a $2 million funding award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2008 to advance tuberculosis research efforts, thereby raising its profile in global health projects.
In 2010, GlaxoSmithKline publicly released a dataset comprising 13,471 molecules tested for antimalarial properties. This information is accessible through CDD Public as well as via the National Library of Medicine’s PubChem and the European Bioinformatics Institute’s ChEMBL database. Such open-access resources have supported diverse cheminformatics studies that highlight CDD’s contribution to facilitating transparent drug discovery data sharing.
By February 2011, CDD became a participant in the MM4TB collaborative initiative led by Stewart Cole alongside AstraZeneca and Sanofi Aventis. This alliance underscores CDD’s strategic partnerships with leading pharmaceutical organizations aimed at accelerating tuberculosis drug development through shared expertise and resource pooling.
See also
- Collaborative software platforms
- Compilation of electronic laboratory notebook applications
- Cheminformatics software libraries