Big pharma screening collections: more of the same or unique libraries? The AstraZeneca–Bayer Pharma AG case

In this study, the screening collections of two major pharmaceutical companies (AstraZeneca and Bayer Pharma AG) have been compared using a 2D molecular fingerprint by a nearest neighborhood approach. Results revealed a low overlap between both collections in terms of compound identity and similarity. This emphasizes the value of screening multiple compound collections to expand the chemical space that can be accessed by high-throughput screening (HTS).

► The AstraZeneca and Bayer compounds have been compared using 2D fingerprint.
► Low overlap and similarity between both collections were observed.
► Compounds sharing high similarity between can increase the values of a HTS output.
► Comparison to ChEMBL shows that additional collections can add further diversity.
► Intellectual property considerations were tackled successfully.