Elsevier Launches TargetInsights™, Streamlining Target Discovery and Validation Workflow

AMSTERDAM, February 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Online decision support tool designed for scientists involved in early drug discovery phases

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services, today announced the launch of TargetInsights™. This online decision support tool enables scientists to search, monitor, and stay up-to-date with the latest biological insights reported in the scientific literature. It provides extensive information coverage and unique data contextualization, supporting users to identify, prioritize, and validate biological targets faster and with less risk.

TargetInsights™ was specifically designed to overcome information challenges during the discovery process of target identification and validation, where scientists need to support ideation and findings with extensive reviews of the scientific literature. The tool enables full text entity and relationship searching of over 5,000 international biomedical journals covering over 800,000 journal articles and conference abstracts per year. Publications covered by TargetInsights™ are indexed with approximately nine million controlled terms within nine taxonomies (genes, proteins and RNA; chemicals and drugs; diseases; biological functions; organ systems; tissue types; cell components; organisms; and cell lines).

TargetInsights™ supports the workflows of molecular biologists, preclinical pharmacologists, discovery chemists, and bioinformaticians, among other user groups. Recognizing the need for information immediacy among these users, it takes just 10 days from an article being published to it being indexed and appearing in TargetInsights™. To support search accuracy, tools are provided to hone and visualize index term relationship searching.

"We have designed this online support tool to operate at what is widely regarded as a mission-critical phase of drug development," said Jabe Wilson, Senior Product Manager at Elsevier. "Many failures in drug development can be attributed to improper target selection. For scientists focusing on a biological target, it is imperative to be able to search and screen crucial information. Incomplete or inaccurate information can result in unnecessary experiments and poor business decisions."

"With the launch of TargetInsights™ and the recent addition of Pathway Studio from Ariadne Genomics, Elsevier now provides two synergistic tools in the biologics space; a tool for monitoring the biological literature, and a tool for analyzing and visualizing research findings in a biological context," said Mark van Mierle, Managing Director of Elsevier's Pharma Biotech Group. "We are excited about being able to support our customers in developing new therapies and cures."

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include SciVerse ScienceDirect, SciVerse Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Nursing Consult, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

About Elsevier Properties SA

Elsevier Properties SA is a center of excellence within Reed Elsevier for the management of intellectual property. Elsevier Properties SA owns the PharmaPendium® and Reaxys® databases. Trademarks including Reaxys®, PharmaPendium®, TargetInsights™ and The Lancet® are owned and protected by Elsevier Properties SA and used under license. For additional information see http://www.reedelsevier.com.

Media contact
Harald Boersma
Senior Manager Corporate Relations, Elsevier
+31-20-485-27-36
h.boersma@elsevier.com