Drug Discovery research
Drug Discovery is a subfield of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics. Science Explorer counts 4.9k research works in it since 1954. 13.6% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
In short: the process by which new candidate medications are discovered.
- Research works
- 4.9k fractional, since 1954
- In the world top 10%
- 674 per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 13.6% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Topics
- 1
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- +71% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Drug Discovery research?
On research quality in 2022–2025, India and Indonesia rank highest in Drug Discovery. By volume, India and Indonesia publish the most (755 and 463 works in 2022–2025).
By research quality, 2022–2025
The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.
Of 2 countries ranked in Drug Discovery. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.
All countries ranked in Drug DiscoveryBy volume, 2022–2025
- 1 India 755 works
- 2 Indonesia 463 works
- 3 Iraq 75 works
- 4 United States 66 works
- 5 Nigeria 63 works
- 6 Pakistan 44 works
- 7 Iran 36 works
- 8 Egypt 36 works
- 9 Bangladesh 25 works
- 10 Nepal 24 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Drug Discovery research?
By volume in 2022–2025, Airlangga University publishes the most Drug Discovery research, followed by Saveetha University and Hindu College of Pharmacy.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Airlangga University Indonesia 24 works
- 2 Saveetha University India 16 works
- 3 Hindu College of Pharmacy India 13 works
- 4 Desh Bhagat Ayurvedic College and Hospital India 12 works
- 5 Universitas Prima Indonesia Indonesia 12 works
- 6 Universitas Sumatera Utara Indonesia 12 works
- 7 University of Baghdad Iraq 11 works
- 8 Padjadjaran University Indonesia 10 works
- 9 Government Ayurved College, Nanded India 10 works
- 10 Government Ayurvedic College and Hospital India 10 works
Who are the leading researchers in Drug Discovery?
Among the most productive authors in Drug Discovery, Philip J. DiSaia, Rajeev Gupta and Mark T. Hamann rank highest on the composite score.
- 1 Philip J. DiSaia United States · #2,263 worldwide 1.5k citations · 81 works
- 2 Rajeev Gupta India · #6,253 worldwide 1.1k citations · 72 works
- 3 Mark T. Hamann United States · #13,004 worldwide 687 citations · 58 works
- 4 Mohammad Hosein Farzaei Iran · #14,963 worldwide 1.1k citations · 43 works
- 5 Prashant Mathur India · #20,817 worldwide 1.3k citations · 38 works
- 6 Surjit Singh India · #21,453 worldwide 626 citations · 41 works
- 7 Rizwan Suliankatchi Abdulkader United States · #25,142 worldwide 4.2k citations · 35 works
- 8 Mohammed Rahmatullah Bangladesh · #35,157 worldwide 548 citations · 104 works
- 9 Dhirendra Narain Sinha United States · #48,407 worldwide 2.9k citations · 28 works
- 10 K. Kathiresan India · #50,524 worldwide 468 citations · 32 works
Re-ranked on the composite score from the 821 highest-output authors in Drug Discovery. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.
Top 100 Drug Discovery researchersWhere is Drug Discovery research done?
The largest centres of Drug Discovery research in 2022–2025 are Chennai (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), Surabaya (Indonesia) and Medan (Indonesia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Jaipur.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- JaipurIN · 23.7 works15×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Drug Discovery than the world average.
Drug Discovery research by country
The best places for Drug Discovery research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.
Where is the best place to study Drug Discovery?
Among universities, judged by research, Saveetha University, Airlangga University and Universitas Sumatera Utara score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saveetha University India | 83.5 | 13.8% | 9.4× | 16 | +366.7% |
| 2 | Airlangga University Indonesia | 83.3 | 10.1% | 15.4× | 24 | +638.9% |
| 3 | Universitas Sumatera Utara Indonesia | 68.7 | 16.2% | 10.5× | 12 | — |
| 4 | Politeknik Kesehatan Kemenkes Semarang Indonesia | 44.2 | 5.3% | 13.6× | 10 | — |
| 5 | Hindu College of Pharmacy India | 42.8 | 2.7% | 73.6× | 14 | +13.9% |
| 6 | University of Baghdad Iraq | 38.3 | 4.6% | 8.7× | 11 | — |
| 7 | Universitas Prima Indonesia Indonesia | 38.1 | 0.0% | 30.2× | 12 | — |
| 8 | Government Ayurved College, Nanded India | 37.4 | 1.7% | 119.6× | 10 | — |
| 9 | Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta Indonesia | 30.1 | 3.6% | 8.8× | 9 | — |
| 10 | Padjadjaran University Indonesia | 19.8 | 4.0% | 6.9× | 10 | — |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Drug Discovery research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 71% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2026. The fastest-growing topics are Pharmacology and Nanomedicine Research.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.