Applying the Semantic Web to Drug Discovery

Major challenges confront the pharmaceutical business at the economic, technical, and scientific levels. In order to maintain growth and drive innovation, it is necessary to utilize knowledge networks more effectively within an organization. Scientific research itself is predicated on the transfer and application of knowledge. The effective exchange of data and accompanying interpretation underpin the generation of new hypotheses and experimental designs. Aventis is exploring the use of semantic web technologies for sharing its knowledge assets. Examples of some of its applications across a broad assortment of scientific and technical processes will be presented.