Version 2026.2 of the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology database was released on 15th June 2026, our second release of the year. This blog post gives details of the key content updates and website changes. GtoPdb now contains:
- 3,141 human targets, 1,823 of which have curated quantitative ligand interactions.
- 13,856 ligands, 9,984 of which have curated quantitative target interactions.
- 2,218 approved drugs, 1,251 with curated quantitative interactions.
- Clinical use summaries for 4,325 ligands.
- 24,599 curated interactions, 22,316 which are quantitative.
- Data curated from 49,913 references
In this release, 135 new ligands, 150 new curated interactions have been added.
Commercial Access to GtoPdb
As a reminder to all our users, the Guide to Pharmacology has always been an open-access, freely available resource. Our expert-curated database of pharmacological data has been maintained over the past 10-15 years on ever changing and sadly, diminishing financial resources. We really want to keep GtoPdb open-access for all, but maintaining and updating the database is not free. Unfortunately the current funding landscape threatens our ability to ensure the Guide to Pharmacology’s sustainability going forward. We have therefore taking steps to ask for commercial organisations, that use GtoPdb, to contribute financially to support its future maintenance, curation and sustainability. More information can be found on our website: GtoPdb – Financial Sustainability Support. Additionally, we plan to move to a login system for GtoPdb. This will require all users to register with GtoPdb in order to access the website, database and web-services. We expect this to come online around August/September 2026.
Curation Update
New Targets
| TID | Family | Gene | Name | Comment |
| 3343 | Ataxin proteins | ATXN2 | ataxin 2 | Target of a novel degron |
| 3344 | CDK5 regulatory proteins | CDK5R1 | cyclin dependent kinase 5 regulatory subunit 1 | A small molecule inhibitor has been curated |
| 3345 | CDK5 regulatory proteins | CDK5R2 | cyclin dependent kinase 5 regulatory subunit 2 | Curated as a the 2nd member of the protein family |
| 3346 | E3 ubiquitin ligase components | KLHL12 | kelch like family member 12 | A small molecule binding ligand is curated, as evidence that this pE3 ligase could be used for PROTAC degrader design |
| 3347 | Poly ADP-ribosylating PARPs and poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase | PARG | mesenchyme homeobox 1 | A small molecule oncology clinical lead inhibitor has been curated |
| 3348 | Homeobox TFs | MEOX1 | mesenchyme homeobox 1 | Inhibited by the natural product ligustilide |
| 3349 | Basic helix-loop-helix (BHLH) TFs | ARNT | aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator1 | Molecular glue degrader curated |
| 3350 | Translational GTPases | HBS1L | HBS1 like translational GTPase | Synthetic lethal target for anti-tumour drug development |
| 3351 | Cyclins | CCNA1 | ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 | Small peptide inhibitors curated |
| 3352 | Cyclins | CCNB1 | ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 | Small peptide inhibitors curated |
| 3353 | Myosin heavy chains, class II (MYH) | MYH9 | myosin heavy chain 9 | Target of natural product ginsenoside Ra1 |
| 3354 | E3 ubiquitin ligase components | UBR2 | ubiquitin protein ligase E3 component n-recognin 2 | A small molecule binding ligand is curated |
| 3355 | Major cadherins | CDH6 | cadherin 6 | Target of oncology lead ADC raludotatug deruxtecan |
| 3356 | CD molecules | KLRB1 | ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 | Target of oncology lead mAb rezorstobart |
Drug Approvals
Drug approvals now total 20 for 2026, of which 16 are first-time approvals for the US FDA. Note however, that a few of these drugs were approved by other regulators before the FDA. Only 4 of the new approved drugs do not meet the criteria to be included in the Guide to PHARMACOLOGY. Drugs approved since 2021 are curated by year here https://www.guidetopharmacology.org/GRAC/DrugApprovalsForward
Target Family Updates
The Adrenoceptors family are undergoing review. For this release the detailed pages for the a1-ARs and the Detailed introduction have been overhauled. The remaining detailed receptor pages will be updated in future releases. The Claudins family (https://www.guidetopharmacology.org/GRAC/FamilyDisplayForward?familyId=930) has been updated, with a new family overview and comment section. We have currently only curated CLDN18 as the target of the first-in-class anti-CLDN18.2 monoclonal antibody zolbetuximab
Antibacterial Curation
Our collaboration with Antibiotic DB (ADB; www.antibioticdb.com) continues to allow us to extend the coverage of ligands with annotated antibacterial activity in GtoPdb and provide comprehensive chemistry and pharmacology for select antibacterials curated within ADB, via reciprocal links. This project is supported by the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP; https://gardp.org/).
Currently we have 758 ligands tagged in GtoPdb as ‘antibacterial’ and 734 of these have links to compounds at ADB. 283 are approved drugs. Since our last release, the number of antibacterial tagged compounds in GtoPdb has increased by 20, with 19 of these being newly-added ligands.
We are also please to see the publication of the following paper, which gives an excellent overview of updates to the AntibioticDB resource:
Galarion LH, Hennessy A, Harding SD, Armstrong JF, Pentz-Murr A, Davies JA, O’Neill AJ, Piddock LJV. AntibioticDB: An Updated and Improved Open-Access Database for the Antibacterial Research and Development Community. ACS Infect Dis. 2026 Feb 23. doi: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.5c00955. Epub ahead of print. [PMID: 39146948]
See also our blog post on this publication.
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