Ligand Efficiency: The Potency Metric Reviewers Love

By BioDockify Computational Research Team · September 4, 2026 · Concepts

Ligand efficiency explained: the affinity-per-heavy-atom formula, worked calculations, realistic thresholds by size, the LE family of metrics, and reporting conventions.

Read the complete article with tables, code and references on BioDockify.

Key References

• Hopkins AL, Groom CR, Alex A. Ligand efficiency: a useful metric for lead selection. Drug Discov Today. 2004;9(10):430-431. doi:10.1016/S1359-6446(04)03069-7
• Kuntz ID, Chen K, Sharp KA, Kollman PA. The maximal affinity of ligands. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1999;96(18):9997-10002. doi:10.1073/pnas.96.18.9997
• RDKit documentation: molecular descriptor utilities for LE calculations, rdkit.org.

Scope & Limitations

LE is size-normalized potency, not a physical property; its value depends on the affinity measurement it inherits and it trends with size in ways the single number does not show