Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica

Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) focuses on providing a comprehensive solution in drug discovery and development. By combining basic and applied research efforts and through cross-fostering between chemistry and biology, scientists at SIMM carry out studies toward the elucidation of the structural basis of bioactive substances, discovery of new targets or mechanisms of action, comprehensive pre-clinical evaluation of drug candidates, and promotion of commercialization, thereby playing an indispensable role in building China’s drug innovation capabilities.

The major research directions of SIMM include drugs against diseases seriously endangering the health of Chinese people like tumors, cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, metabolic diseases, autoimmune diseases as well as infectious diseases. Another task for SIMM is to strengthen research and development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

SIMM consists of the following functional divisions: three national research centers which include State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, National Center for Drug Screening, and National Engineering Laboratory for TCM Standardization Technology; six research departments namely Department of Natural Products Chemistry, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Departments of Pharmacology I, II and III; and six drug discovery and development platforms including Drug Discovery and Design Center, Center for Drug Safety Evaluation and Research, Center for Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics Research, Center for Drug Efficacy Evaluation Research, Center for Pharmaceutics Research and Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The supporting and logistic units include a library, a vivarium and a herbarium. Two English journals, namely, Acta Pharmacologica Sinica and Asian Journal of Andrology, and one Chinese journal Family Medicines are published by SIMM.