THOMSON PHARMA

 

Q: What are the system and plug-in requirements for Thomson Pharma?

A: The system requirements and plug-in for Thomson Pharma are:

Browser Requirements
Microsoft® Internet Explorer, version 6 or higher, or Mozilla Firefox® 2, within either a Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows NT environment. For Apple users, we recommend Safari, and OSX.

Display Settings
Thomson Pharma is best viewed at a monitor resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels or higher, and at 256 colours or more (High Color or True Color recommended).

JavaScript
Thomson Pharma uses JavaScript for defining menus and navigation, and for some of the portlet tools, such as the NewsEdge breaking news feed and the New Compound Viewer. You must therefore enable the JavaScript option within your browser to use Thomson Pharma successfully.

MDL ISIS/Draw and Chime
Structure queries can be incorporated using MDL ISIS/Draw (version 2.5 or higher). MDL Chime (version 2.6 Service Pack 7 recommended) provides the chemical structure search and rendering functionality needed to view the results of structure queries. The MDL Chime plug-in is downloadable free of charge from the MDL website. Please note that MDL no longer offer or support the plug-in for Apple computers.

Adobe Flash Player
Many of the Thomson Pharma reports use a variety of graphs and charts to make data accessible visually. These are displayed using Adobe's Flash technology. To be able to view the charts successfully, you must have the latest version of Flash player installed on your machine. To download the free Adobe Flash player, go to the Adobe website.

Adobe Reader 
Many full-text items in Thomson Pharma are provided in PDF format, to enable easy viewing and printing. This requires the free Adobe Reader, which can be downloaded from the Adobe website.

Q: How can I log into Thomson Pharma if there is a local machine, network, or internet failure?

A: If you had a local machine or internet failure that requires a re-launch of a web browser to access Thomson Pharma, you should be able to login using your user id only on that machine. You cannot access Thomson Pharma from any other machine unless you first access and log off of Thomson Pharma on the computer you were using when the failure occurred.

Q: What happens if I close my web browser without using the log-off feature?

A: If you do not log-off of Thomson Pharma, you will not be able to access Thomson Pharma from any other computer. You will need to log into and then log off of Thomson Pharma to be able to access from any other computer. Also note that clearing your browser cookies will not solve this issue. It is important to use the logoff button.

Q: If I leave my computer, how long can I be logged into Thomson Pharma before I am timed out

A: The application in Thomson Pharma will log you off of the application after a least 1 hour of inactivity. This will make the user id available for use again for that machine.

Q: What do I do if I forgot my password?

A: If you have forgotten your password, click on the Forgotten Password link below the login boxes, and enter your User Name and Email Address. Your Thomson Pharma password will be reset with a new temporary password, which will be sent to you by email. Next time you login to Thomson Pharma, you will be prompted to choose a new password and to confirm it. This ensures maximum security of your account.

Your login details are verified against the details held on the Thomson Pharma portal, and you will be taken directly to the General Interest Home page. This is the default home page for Thomson Pharma; however, you can specify any of the available pre-defined home pages or can create your own new home page, which is displayed each time you login, using Personalize. If you do experience any difficulties gaining access to Thomson Pharma, please contact the Thomson Scientific Help Desk for Technical Support.

Q: Another user logged onto Thomson Pharma using their user id on my computer. I am seeing a “session refused” message. How can I access Thomson Pharma?

A: The previous user did not log off of the Thomson Pharma application. He must log into and the log off of the Thomson Pharma application. You should then be able to access Thomson Pharma with your user id and password.

Q: How can I bookmark Thomson Pharma?

A: You can bookmark the Thomson Pharma URL for future use, at which point a Thomson Pharma icon will appear in your favorites folder; you can then drag this and place it on your toolbar for easy access.

Setting Thomson Pharma as your Default Home Page – Alternatively, you may wish to make the Thomson Pharma portal your browser default home page, as follows…

  • If you are using Internet Explorer, click on Tools, Internet Options, insert the Thomson Pharma URL/internet address into the address field, and then click on OK.
  • If you are using Netscape, click on Edit, Preferences, insert the Thomson Pharma URL/internet address into the location field, and then click on OK.

Q: Can I use my user id on multiple machines?

A: Only if you have properly logged off from an initial log-on session. Then your user id is freed for use on another machine. However, if that machine does not have a logged off Thomson Pharma session then both user ids will be disabled for one hour.

Q: How can I export to Word, Excel or Bizint if I am getting blank screen with MSIE information bar at the top of the window?

A: If a blank export screen with the MSIE information bar appears, Internet Explorer has blocked this site from downloading files to your computer in order to protect your security. Click here for options, appears when attempting to export in Thomson Pharma, use the following work-around. You must click on this bar and choose the continue download option. At this point, the window will remain blank. Do not close the window. Minimize the blank window and click the export option again.

Q: What are the criteria used to determine chemical structure confidence levels?

A: Chemical structures are given unique confidence levels as a measure of validity for that structure based on the following criteria:

  • Level 1 - Structure has been confirmed by Chemical Abstracts Service or the developing company as the correct structure.
  • Level 2 - Structure identified in Merck index or published by WHO or USAN council.
  • Level 3 - Structure identified in a peer-reviewed journal.
  • Level 4 - Structure identified in a non-peer reviewed printed source, such a meeting handout, press release, or non-company website.
  • Level 5 - Hand-drawn structure from a conference, or structure based on an informed decision by a Thomson Scientific patent analyst made by correlating unambiguous chemical information from the company's patent filings with information from other sources such company publications and communications

Q: How many records can be exported?

A: There is no system limit for export. User can export all available records by clicking the links one by one. For example: If a result set has 10,000 records, you can download all 10.000 records to excel by clicking links for each batch, 1-1000, 1001-2000, 2001-3000, ......9001 -10,000.

Q: Where can I find Current Opinion journals in Thomson Pharma?

A: At this time, these are available on Thomson Pharma to all users. The current issue of each title is displayed on a specific home page, with back issues available for browsing, and titles are linked to PDF full text.

The location of the Current Opinion Journals – Home page location:

  • Current Opinion in Investigational Drugs - Clinical, Competitive Intelligence
  • Current Opinion in Molecular Therapeutics - Biology
  • Current Opinion in Drug Discovery & Development – Chemistry
  • Investigational Drugs - News & Meetings


Current Opinion articles will also appear in Literature &News search results. You can also search by specific journal title and include keywords, date restrictions, etc. In Search Results display, clicking on the article title takes you to an Article Summary page which has a "PDF link" icon along with "SFX link" icon for OpenURL abstracts/full text.

Q: What is the difference between the Core Patent Collection and the Extended Patent Collection?

A: The Thomson Pharma Core Patent Collection covers patents and patent applications as far back as 1968. Records in the Core Collections are indexed systematically with indication, action and technology keywords and contain comments that put the invention into the broader context of the applicants' research and also cover opposition, litigation or infringement issues. However, value-added content is not provided systematically for older patents.

The Thomson Pharma Extended Patent Collection allows you to broaden your search to further include all organic and inorganic compounds with therapeutic utility, dating back to 1963, natural and genetically engineered products and polymers, pharmaceutical processes, testing and apparatus and further diagnostics and formulation types.

For other information, please go to the Thomson Pharma Quick Reference Guide

Q: When I do a sort by any heading on a Drug Report export to Excel with structures, why does the structure column not sort?

A: The structure column will not sort in the Export to Excel with structure for Drug Reports.

Q: What are the advantages of searching on the Derwent manual codes?

A: You can extend the patent search to 41 patent authorities, using the keyword terms you are familiar with. You do not need to learn the manual codes.

Q: How can I combine terms using the NOT operator?

A: You can combine terms using the NOT operator in the write your own search feature. You no longer have to do separate searches to combine your results if you use the Write Your Own feature.

Q: Can I use free text in the Write Your Own search feature?

A: No, free text searching is not available in the write your own search feature. You must include a field tag when using the write your own search.

Q: Can I be notified of specific changes such as developmental status changes or chemical structures being added to a Drug Report?

A: Yes.
1. From the Drug report, click on “Save/Alert”
2. In the “Process Report” section, you will see the to the pop-up “SAVE REPORT”
3. Choose a folder and click “Save”
4. In the “Save Report” popup, click on “Yes” for the question, ”Do you want to save an alert for this Saved Report”
5. Select the “type of updates”
6. Follow the instructions given in the alert setup windows to complete the alert setup process

Q: What are the reasons for an update in a Drug Report?

A: The reasons for update of a Drug Report are:
- Developmental status updated
- Chemical structure added/updated
- Literature evaluation added
- Licensing information updated
- Editorial amendments

Q: Is there one place where I can find the Current Opinion journals?

A: The Current Opinion journals can be found in the Browse Journals feature. Under Select a Therapy Area, there is a node for Current Opinion.

Q: How do I create a table of contents alert for IDrugs?

A: You can create a table of contents alert for IDrugs from the Literature and News Search Form. Enter IDrugs into the Journal search box and click on the Save button at the bottom of the form.

Q: What does the green flag represent that is showing on only some news articles?

A: Priority alert icons are being used to illustrate when a news article has more in-depth editorial comments associated with the article.

Q: What is the batch limit for exporting Documentation Abstracts if my company subscribes to them from the patents results list?

A: Currently 50 documents can be exported at one time and starting each record on a new page.