About
A free reference for learning about medicines. Each drug has one page that brings together its class, key numbers, variants and structure — with small tools for study and lab work.
Class, mechanism, cautions and key pharmacokinetic values on one page — same layout for every drug.
Salts, enantiomers and other forms side by side, with formula, molar mass and what differs.
A ball-and-stick model that rotates as you read and switches with the variant you pick.
Mass to moles, salt equivalents, concentration curve, drug comparison and study cards.
Every number on a drug page carries four facts so you always know what you are looking at and where it came from.
Elimination half-life
~2 h
measured Found by experiment and reported by the source.
computed Calculated from the structure, such as molar mass.
label-stated Quoted from the official product label.
model Output of a formula with stated assumptions, such as the concentration curve.
editorial Written by us and reviewed, such as the mechanism summary.
If a value has no source it is not shown. Missing data reads "no data", never zero.
Drug data changes slowly but it does change — new safety information, updated label versions, recalls. Every value carries the date it was last checked against its source.
Within 90 days
Matches the most recently fetched source. No action needed.
91 – 365 days
Not re-verified recently. Likely still correct; worth confirming against the current label.
Over 365 days
Red banner on the page. A rebuild is queued. Cross-check the source before use.
Newer label detected
openFDA reported a newer label version. Rebuild triggered automatically.
Safety events — recalls, withdrawals, new boxed warnings — are checked on every build run via the openFDA enforcement and label feeds, regardless of the regular update schedule.
We build each page from open public sources, then add short summaries of our own. Version 1 uses US sources — names, strengths and approval status may differ where you live. Primary feeds: PubChem, RxNorm, openFDA and DailyMed.
| Source | Run by | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| PubChem | US National Institutes of Health | Structure, formula, molar mass, identifiers |
| RxNorm | US National Library of Medicine | Names, synonyms and brand names |
| openFDA | US Food and Drug Administration | Label text, strengths, recalls and safety notices |
| DailyMed | US National Library of Medicine | Full product label documents |
| RxClass | US National Library of Medicine | Drug class membership (pharmacological and chemical) |
| Drug Explorer editorial | Reviewed by a qualified pharmacist or equivalent | Summaries, mechanism, cautions, "what differs" |
Not affiliated with or endorsed by any of these organisations or by any manufacturer. openFDA and PubChem content is public domain or openly licensed.
Not medical advice
Reference information for learning and research. Ask a pharmacist or doctor before any decision about a medicine.
Not a dosing tool
We never ask for your age, weight or condition, and nothing here tells you how much to take.
Not a prediction
The concentration curve is a textbook model with stated assumptions. It does not describe levels in any person.
Not a photograph
The structure viewer is a stylised illustration. Hydrogens are omitted and geometry is approximate.
Pharmacy, medicine and nursing students learning classes, mechanisms and key numbers. The comparison view and study cards are designed for exam preparation.
People who need structure, identifiers (CAS, InChIKey, PubChem CID), salt forms and quick mass-to-mole conversions.
A fast secondary reference and a clean page to show a colleague or patient. Not a clinical decision-support tool.
Accurate summaries, exportable charts and structure images to use in teaching materials. Each asset shows its source.
Anyone who wants to understand what a medicine is and how it works, without having to decode a product label.
Version 1 focuses on depth for a curated set of small-molecule drugs. Later versions add coverage, interactive tools and regional data.
Answers about data, tools and limits.
No. Drug Explorer is a reference and learning tool, not a clinical decision-support system. Every value comes from public sources and is labelled with its source and date, but you should always consult the current official label, a formulary, or a qualified pharmacist or physician before any clinical decision. See the DailyMed product label for the authoritative current text.
Half-life, protein binding, bioavailability, time to peak, metabolism and excretion are taken from FDA product labels via openFDA and DailyMed. Each value is tagged "label-stated" and carries the label version date. Where a label gives a range, we show the range — we never average it into a single figure.
The curve is a textbook one-compartment oral absorption model with fixed illustrative parameters. It is labelled "Illustrative model, not clinical data" and shows peak, time of peak, and the parameters used. It makes the shape of a dose-response visible — it does not predict plasma levels in any individual. For clinical pharmacokinetic data, consult a reference such as StatPearls (NCBI).
A salt is a form of a drug that includes a counter-ion to improve solubility or stability. The salt factor is the ratio of the parent molar mass to the salt molar mass. For example, 352 mg of ibuprofen lysine (salt factor ≈ 0.585) delivers the same amount of ibuprofen as 206 mg of free acid. Molar masses come from PubChem (computed property).
A value is only shown when it has a traceable source. If the FDA label does not state a value, or if extraction has not yet been reviewed, the field shows "no data". We never substitute a zero, a guess, or a value from a different variant.
A scheduled build job fetches fresh data from PubChem, RxNorm and openFDA regularly. Each value carries a "checked" date. Pages show a freshness indicator: current (within 90 days), ageing (91–365 days), or stale (over 365 days). If openFDA reports a newer label version, a rebuild is triggered automatically.
You may use screenshots for educational, non-commercial purposes with attribution ("Drug Explorer, drugexplorer.app"). The underlying chemical structure data comes from PubChem (NIH), which is in the public domain. For publication or commercial use, please contact us.
Version 1 covers around 250 curated small-molecule drugs, starting from commonly taught and widely prescribed medicines. Biologics, supplements, herbal products and veterinary-only drugs are out of scope. Combination products link to each individual substance page. The drug list is sourced from WHO Essential Medicines and common teaching curricula.
Pairwise interaction checking requires a curated, regularly updated dataset. The NLM free interaction API was discontinued in January 2024. Until a reliable source is confirmed, we show only the "Drug Interactions" section of the individual FDA label — clearly labelled as describing one drug, not a pair.