68 · KEGG Drug
Approved drugs — structures, targets, pathways & drug-drug interactions
Category: Drug-centric | Type: DB | Subcategory: DDI
API: https://rest.kegg.jp (free, no key required for academic use)
What it provides
- Drug metadata: name, formula, molecular weight, efficacy, class
- Targets: gene/protein targets for each approved drug
- Interactions (DDI): drug-drug interaction annotations
- Pathways: linked KEGG pathway IDs
Quick start
from 68_KEGG_Drug import query
# Single entity
results = query("aspirin")
# Multiple entities
results = query(["aspirin", "metformin", "imatinib"])
# By KEGG Drug ID
results = query("D00109")
# Specific fields only
results = query("warfarin", fields="targets")
results = query("warfarin", fields="interactions")
query() interface
query(entities, fields="all") -> list[dict]
| Parameter |
Type |
Description |
entities |
str | list[str] |
Drug name(s) or KEGG Drug ID(s) (e.g. "D00109") |
fields |
str |
"all" — full entry; "targets" — targets only; "interactions" — DDI only |
Return structure (fields="all")
[
{
"drug_id": "dr:D00109",
"query": "aspirin",
"name": "Aspirin (JP18/USP/INN); ...",
"formula": "C9H8O4",
"mol_weight": "180.0423",
"targets": ["PTGS1 ...", "PTGS2 ..."],
"interactions": ["Warfarin [precaution] ...", ...],
"pathways": ["map07112 ...", ...],
"classes": ["Analgesic ...", ...]
}
]
If a name cannot be resolved, the entry contains {"query": "xxx", "error": "No match found"}.
Lower-level functions
| Function |
Input |
Output |
Description |
search(query, limit=10) |
drug name/keyword |
list[{id, name}] |
Keyword search |
get_entry(drug_id) |
KEGG Drug ID |
dict |
Full parsed entry |
get_targets(drug_id) |
KEGG Drug ID |
list[str] |
Target lines |
get_interactions(drug_id) |
KEGG Drug ID |
list[str] |
DDI lines |
Notes
- KEGG REST API is free for academic use; commercial use requires a license.
- Rate limit: no official cap, but keep requests reasonable (~1 req/sec).
- Drug IDs look like
D00109 or dr:D00109; both formats accepted.
- Not all drugs have interaction or target annotations — empty list means no data.
gabrielmoreira