Dear All,

My Problem - the interpretation of the drug labels in DrugBank:

I can parse the drugbank.xml file (DrugBank Version 5.0.11, newest version), and thus I have the drug labels, but I don't know how to best place computationally drugs into the categories "withdrawn", "investigational" and "approved", as a drug might be used for different indications? For example ...

1. Thalidomide and Abarelix are both noted as "approved, investigational, withdrawn". Thalidomide has been reintroduced on the Market for other uses (hence no longer withdrawn), but Abarelix is definetly withdrawn. Hence, I don't see how I can place Thalidomide under "withdrawn" as its description clearly states that it is currently on the market, yet at the same time, I don't want to go through all the descriptions and check the labels.
2. It is possible for a drug to be approved for one indication and investigated for another indication and thus have the label "approved, investigational". But how can I be sure that this drug is investigated for different indications?

Is there any way to tell whether a drug is withdrawn for one indication and used for another, e.g. like Thalidomide? Or should I just classify Thalidomide as "withdrawn" based on the label?

I am sorry, if this seems trivial. If more information is required, please ask! Best wishes and many thanks for any help, Leanna

PS: Please find here the description of the Drug labels, as described here: https://www.drugbank.ca/documentation

• Withdrawn : a previously approved drug that has been withdrawn from the market in at least one jurisdiction, at some point in time. Note that because a drug can be approved in one jurisdiction, and withdrawn in another, it's possible for a drug to be in both groups
• Investigational: A drug that is in some phase of the drug approval process in at least one jurisdiction.
• Approved: A drug that has been approved in at least one jurisdiction, at some point in time.