50 Years European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC) – The Ascent of Medicinal Chemistry in Europe

• Published in: ChemMedChem Vol. 15; no. 24; pp. 2338 - 2351
• Main Author: Differding, Edmond
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 15.12.2020
• Subjects: Ascent; chemical biology; Chemistry; drug discovery; EFMC; ISMC; medicinal chemistry; Pharmaceutical sciences; Europe; ISMC; chemical biology; drug discovery; medicinal chemistry; EFMC
• ISSN: 1860-7179; 1860-7187
• DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202000691

A historical overview of key events that led, 50 years ago, to the foundation of the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC), and the impact this had on promoting and structuring medicinal chemistry as a discipline in Europe. EFMC, together with the growing number of newly established national medicinal chemistry societies or divisions, created the framework for networking and knowledge exchange. This includes organizing conferences, in particular its biennial ‘International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC‐ISMC)’. Several interesting trends can be identified from EFMC meetings, EFMC governing bodies, or the federation's recognition of scientific excellence, that highlight changes in the medicinal chemistry community over the last decades, related to affiliation, gender, young scientists, communication tools, and embracing scientific advances. Five decades strong: The European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC), founded 50 years ago, has accompanied the growth of medicinal chemistry from a subdiscipline of organic chemistry to a full‐fledged multidisciplinary science that sustains current industrial and academic efforts to discover new drugs. The efforts to federate scientific societies throughout Europe, and to guide their evolution through a growing network, are described in this article.