Presumably due to the commercial potential and increasing awareness of intellectual property issues, there has been an increase in the publication of the number of patents, particularly in the area of new anticancer drugs. This article will focus on the literature accessible in the public domain. It is written from a chemist's point of view, but very little synthetic detail will be given due to space restrictions: instead, the therapeutic properties of novel molecules will be highlighted. During the year, the quest has continued to try to elucidate structure–activity relationships, especially in the area of improving new inorganic pharmaceuticals as potential anticancer drugs. There have been a number of very useful reviews written about the use of new molecules in the treatment of specific diseases and these will be referred to in the text.