UDM (Unified Data Model) for chemical reactions – past, present and future

Abstract

Abstract The UDM (Unified Data Model) is an open, extendable and freely available data format for the exchange of experimental information about compound synthesis and testing. The UDM had been initially developed in a collaborative project between Elsevier and Roche, where chemical reactions data from a variety of disparate data sources existing at Roche was consolidated and integrated into the Roche in-house version of the Reaxys database. Elsevier adapted the UDM model to its needs and finally donated its pre-4.0 release to the Pistoia Alliance for further development together with the five project founders (Elsevier, Roche, BIOVIA, GSK and Novartis, joined later by BMS), who contributed with funding and expertise to the Pistoia Alliance UDM project between 2017 and 2020. The latest UDM version 6.0 has been made freely available for the community under the MIT license in January 2021. The past, present, and future of the UDM exchange format are discussed in this article and factors that contribute to the successful adoption of the UDM format.