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A blueprint for an ideal corporate information centre

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 11, page 497 (2012)Cite this article

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Innovation is fostered by information, and so gaining and analysing information has always been a key competitive asset in any research-based company, including those in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Indeed, as an article by Agarwal and Searls noted (Can literature analysis identify innovation drivers in drug discovery? Nature Rev. Drug Discov. 8, 865–878 (2009))1, the focus of innovative drug research and development (R&D) should be guided not only by medical need and commercial potential but also by using information analysis to identify the areas in which new science is creating therapeutic opportunities.

Corporate libraries have therefore always had an indispensable function in the drug industry. Furthermore, technological advances in the past 20 years have transformed the information world, and corporate libraries have evolved into information management and knowledge centres, thus turning into innovation partners2,3,4,5,6.

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Figure 1: The twelve core elements of an ideal corporate information centre.
Figure 2: The twelve core elements of an ideal corporate information centre.

References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oliver Renn (formerly at Boehringer Ingelheim) is at Adalbert-Stifter-Straße 16, 79102 Freiburg, Germany.,

    Oliver Renn

  2. Michael Archer (formerly at AstraZeneca) is at Swets Information Services, Abingdon Business Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 1UQ, UK.,

    Michael Archer

  3. Carmen Burkhardt is at Novartis, CH.4056 Basel, Switzerland.,

    Carmen Burkhardt

  4. Jeannette Ginestet has recently retired from Sanofi-aventis Montpellier, France.,

    Jeannette Ginestet

  5. Henning P. Nielsen is at Novo Nordisk, DK-2880 Bagsværd, Denmark.,

    Henning P. Nielsen

  6. Joanna Woodward is at Pfizer, Eastern Point Road, Groton, Connecticut 06340, USA.,

    Joanna Woodward

Authors
  1. Oliver Renn
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  2. Michael Archer
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  3. Carmen Burkhardt
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  4. Jeannette Ginestet
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  5. Henning P. Nielsen
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  6. Joanna Woodward
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Oliver Renn.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Renn, O., Archer, M., Burkhardt, C. et al. A blueprint for an ideal corporate information centre. Nat Rev Drug Discov 11, 497 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd2973-c1

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