In June 2026, Anthropic released Claude Science, an AI workbench designed to support scientific research. Anthropic included Ketcher — EPAM's open-source molecule and reaction editor — as a featured connector, giving researchers an interactive way to visualize, inspect and modify chemical structures within Claude Science.
The integration brings Ketcher into an emerging model for AI-assisted research, where AI works with specialized scientific databases, computational methods and interactive tools. For chemistry, that requires software that can accurately represent molecular structures and exchange chemical data in formats other scientific systems can use.
Open-Source Cheminformatics Software Built for Integration
EPAM has developed and maintained Ketcher for more than a decade. With humble beginnings, the browser-based chemical structure editor has gained popularity as a full-featured, open-source cheminformatics software tool for drawing and editing small molecules, biomolecules and chemical reactions.
Ketcher enables researchers and developers to:
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Draw and edit 2D molecular structures and chemical reactions
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Import and export widely used chemical formats, including SMILES, Molfile and SDF
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Integrate chemical structure editing into scientific software and web applications through its embeddable architecture and JavaScript API
Ketcher is part of EPAM's broader open-source cheminformatics suite, which includes Indigo for molecular processing and analysis and Bingo for chemical database search. Together, these technologies help scientific organizations work with chemical information across applications, data environments and research workflows.
OPEN SOURCE
Ketcher
Web-based chemical structure drawing software
Why Scientific AI Needs Cheminformatics Tools
Claude Science combines the Claude model with more than 60 curated skills and connectors spanning genomics, proteomics, structural biology, cheminformatics and other scientific disciplines. This approach reflects a practical reality: an AI model may be able to interpret a researcher's request or coordinate a series of actions, but it still needs specialized tools to perform domain-specific work.
That is particularly important in chemistry. A molecular structure is not simply an image or a line of text. It represents formal relationships among atoms, bonds, stereochemistry and other properties that must be captured accurately and exchanged through established chemical formats.
Claude Science's connectors and skills framework gives Claude access to scientific data sources, methods and tools. Through the Ketcher Chemistry connector, researchers can visualize and modify chemical structures using software designed specifically for chemistry. Support for standard interchange formats also allows chemical data to move between Claude Science and external systems, including chemical databases, computational chemistry software and electronic lab notebooks.
Ketcher Chemistry gives researchers an interactive workspace for inspecting, modifying and validating chemical structures within Claude Science
The value of the integration is not simply that Claude can display a molecule. Through Ketcher, researchers can inspect, modify, and export structures using an established editor — directly within the AI environment. Standard interchange formats ensure that structures can move between Claude Science and external tools such as chemical databases, computational chemistry packages, or electronic lab notebooks.
What Ketcher's Inclusion Signals
Ketcher's inclusion in Claude Science reflects EPAM's long-term investment in open-source scientific software designed for practical use and integration. It also demonstrates a broader shift in scientific AI toward connecting models with established domain tools rather than reproducing specialized capabilities that those tools already provide.
"An AI model can reason about science, but it cannot replace the specialized instruments researchers use to visualize, manipulate and validate their data. Scientific AI will succeed by connecting models to tools that give researchers direct, hands-on control over domain objects."
— Kevin Prime, Managing Principal, Life Sciences Consulting
Explore the EPAM Cheminformatics Suite to learn how Ketcher and EPAM's broader open-source toolset supports digital chemistry workflows. Developers can also explore Ketcher on GitHub.
