The European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC) is an independent association founded in 1970 that represents 25 scientific organisations from 23 European countries. Its objective is to advance the science of medicinal chemistry by promoting cooperation and encouraging strong links between the national adhering organisations in order to deepen contacts and exchanges between medicinal chemists in Europe and around the World. EFMC fulfils this objective by organizing symposia and short courses, by sponsoring meetings and medicinal chemistry schools, by publishing on relevant topics and by conferring awards and prizes.
Its most important organisation is the biennial International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC-ISMC). These symposia, with an average attendance of 1,200 delegates, are highly international with a broad range of speakers and attendees from the pharmaceutical industry and academia. Next to the ISMC, EFMC is involved in the organisation of the Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry (FMC) and the international symposium on Advances in Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry (ASMC). EFMC also organises intensive short courses on specific topics in medicinal chemistry.
An important part of the EFMC activities is sponsorship of national scientific meetings and Medicinal Chemistry Schools. EFMC also awards travel grants for younger scientists to attend EFMC symposia and schools.
Furthermore, in collaboration with the Royal Society of Chemistry, EFMC is publishing MedChemComm, the official journal of EFMC. MedChemComm is a peer reviewed journal publishing concise articles and reviews covering medicinal chemistry research. The electronic newsletter MedChemWatch as well as the yearbook" Medicinal Chemistry in Europe" help to further develop contacts between medicinal chemists around the world.
EFMC also acknowledges the excellence of medicinal chemists’ work, by conferring three major awards: the Nauta Award on Pharmacochemistry, the UCB-Ehrlich Award for Excellence in Medicinal Chemistry and the Prous Institute-Overton and Meyer Award for New Technologies in Drug Discovery, which are given every two years for outstanding achievements in the field of Medicinal Chemistry. From 2010 on, EFMC established two new prizes to acknowledge the scientific accomplishments of young medicinal chemists, both in industry and academia.
