diff --git a/backend/src/api/similar.py b/backend/src/api/similar.py
index bfb5052b..72c5231b 100644
--- a/backend/src/api/similar.py
+++ b/backend/src/api/similar.py
@@ -24,5 +24,6 @@ def get_similar_pdb(protein_name: str):
 def get_similar_venome(protein_name: str):
     query_name = pdb_file_name(protein_name)
     target_folder = "src/data/pdbAlphaFold/"
-    similar = easy_search(query_name, target_folder, out_format="target,prob")
+    # the first will always be the query itself so we skip it
+    similar = easy_search(query_name, target_folder, out_format="target,prob")[1:]
     return [SimilarProtein(name=revert_pdb_filename(s[0]), prob=s[1]) for s in similar]