History of 3D pharmacophore searching: commercial, academic and open-source tools

The history of the evolution of the methodology to search 3D databases using pharmacophores is recounted, starting with the work of Kier 1968–1971, where he articulated the concept of a pharmacophore and laid out its role in the methodology of ‘receptor-mapping’, and ending with today's emergence of open-source tools for pharmacophore searching.