This reference provides information on the production and isolation processes, including syntheses of corresponding intermediates, of about 1300 active pharmaceutical substances, reduced in this fifth edition for the purpose of reverting back to a more convenient single volume by reserving drugs withdrawn from major markets and drugs that have become less commercially important for the electronic version only and also only highlighting key intermediaries in the electronic version. This print edition does, however, add 165 new entries and the rest have been revised and updated. The typical entry, titled according to international nonproprietary name, opens by listing chemical name, Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Code, major uses, Chemical Abstracts Service numbers, molecular formula (using the Hill System), and weight. It then symbolically describes the synthetic route used for industrial large-scale production of substances and their intermediaries, often including a number of different synthetic routes, especially for the most economically important pharmaceuticals. Patent information that applies to synthetic routes, dates of issue of US patents, application and priority dates, and (when applicable) alternative syntheses is then presented, together with references to non-patent literature. Finally, the most important pharmaceutical dosage forms are provided to aid in the assessment of the order of magnitude of a compound that is needed and thus commercial value, and trade names and company names are provided for the German, French, Great British, Italian, Japanese, and United States markets. Importantly, entries are also indexed by trade name; intermediates; enzymes, microorganisms, plants, and animal tissues; and substance classes. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)