HELM is a linear and machine-readable notation for the representation of macromolecules (like SMILES for small molecules). It enables a uniform representation of biomolecules such as proteins, nucleotides, antibody-drug conjugates, and many more.

• HELM was developed in 2013 by Pfizer and the Pistoia Alliance as a new standard for the visualisation of macromolecules and is now being continuously expanded and optimised by the Pistoia Alliance.
• xHELM: On behalf of the Pistoia Alliance, quattro research has developed xHELM as an extension of the HELM notation. It simplifies the exchange of HELM structures between different organisations. You can learn more about xHELM in the presentation on this page.
• Under the leadership of Stefan Klostermann at the Roche Innovation Center in Penzberg, quattro research helped to develop the HELM Antibody Editor (HAbE).
• The HELM Antibody Editor can now be downloaded free of charge from the Pistoia Alliance (see videos below).

HELM Bibliography:

Pistoia Alliance - HELM project

A Hierarchical Notation Language for Complex Biomolecule Structure Representation Tianhong Zhang, Hongli Li, Hualin Xi, Robert V. Stanton, and Sergio H. RotsteinJournal of Chemical Information and Modeling 2012 52 (10), 2796-2806DOI: 10.1021/ci3001925

HAbE: User Guide Demonstration from Pistoia Alliance on Vimeo.

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