General Information about using the Global Info Centre

As you access the Global Info Center with your user id and password, you will notice there are 5 services available at this time. Each service is accessible to you through an individual subscription. The services are fully integrated with the data being shared between them and the services being accessible from many different points. Thus it is our goal to develop a navigational system that gives you fully integrated access to all of the data regardless of what service you are using. We have accomplished this with a color coded system of windows and buttons.

The DWCP, containing producers, is identified in red. PathFinder, containing end products of intermediates, is identified in gold. FDA Base, containing DMF and VMF holders as well as approved drug applications, is identified in blue. WBDU, containing users of bulk drugs, is identified in green. As you access each service, the color of the window box outline changes to reflect which service you are accessing.

The system works as follows; Suppose you have a subscription to DWCP, PathFinder and FDA Base. You are using the DWCP and are searching for producers of Lovastatin for example. When Lovastatin appears in the list, there will be 3 colored circles next to the product name Lovastatin. These are yellow, blue and green. If you are interested in producers of Lovastatin, just click on the name as you do now and you will be shown the producers because you are in the DWCP. You know you are in the DWCP because the window box is outlined in red. However, if you were interested in synthesis path information, you would click on the gold circle next to Lovastatin and this will take you into PathFinder and automatically initiate a search for Lovastatin. The color of the window box outline will change to gold. If you are interested in DMF information for Lovastatin, you would click on the blue button next to the name Lovastatin. This would take you into FDA Base and automatically initiate a search there for DMF/VMF holders of Lovastatin. The color of the window box outline would automatically change to blue telling you that you are accessing information in the FDA Base service. You can view the PathFinder or FDA Base information and then use the back button to easily return to your place in the DWCP.

The data is integrated at a deeper level as well. Suppose you continue searching for producers of Lovastatin. As you display a list of the producers of Lovastatin, next to the producer name appears a blue circle IF the producing company has a DMF or VMF on file for this bulk pharmaceutical. If you click on the blue circle, you will see the details of the DMF/VMF.

In addition to DMFs and VMFs, FDA Base also includes European Certificates of Suitability. Certificates of Suitability are issued by the European Directorate of Quality of Medicines. The manufacturer has to submit a full dossier to them on the manufacturing method for the substance and the impurities that are associated with it so that the reference to the European Pharmacopoeia monograph can be validated. The Certificate of Suitability is then issued to the manufacturer or the duly authorized representative of the manufacturer.

The Certificates of Suitability (COS) are designated as follows in FDA Base and can be differentiated from DMF/VMFs by one of the following

1. The identification number for a COS is of the form 1999-012 while a DMF or VMF id a 5 digit number.

2. The type shown for a DMF is II or IV. The type shown for a VMF is "VMF". The type show for a COS is "CS".

If you are searching the DWCP and see a blue circle next to the producer of a chemical, this means that they have either a DMF, VMF, COS or some combination of these. You need to click on the blue circle to determine exactly which is being held by the company.

At any point using the Global Info Centre, you have an option to view information from the other services as long as there is a colored circle shown next to the data item of interest.

We encourage you to experiment with the buttons to see how easily and efficiently you can access a world of information.