Highres Biosolutions has launched a new section on its applications website describing how the company's modular laboratory automation systems can be applied to secondary screening.
Automation of secondary screening assays is vital to ensure that hits generated from high-throughput screening campaigns are reliably translated into leads.
However, finite budgets, demands to operate in smaller laboratory spaces, and a multi-user environment can make it difficult for secondary screening groups to implement effective automation systems.
Highres's automation systems incorporate the Microdock docking station.
In a Highres robotic system, an array of Microdocks surrounds a central robot 'pod'.
Devices and peripherals live on carts that are designed to dock and undock in seconds from the robotic work cell via the Microdock, which also automatically connects power, data and gases for all of the devices on the cart.
This technology allows a user to swap devices in and out of the robotic system in less than 30sec, without re-teaching the robot.
This approach enables researchers in secondary screening to support multiple screening technologies and target classes with one automation platform.
Devices that are not needed for automated screening can be easily accessed for assay development and maintenance, either by undocking the instrument or using the Highres turntable feature.
Operators can respond rapidly to advances in screening technologies, such as label-free readers) without having to replace the entire automation system.
All of these features help to maximise equipment uptime and also minimise duplicate device purchases by allowing different project teams to share the same equipment.
An article in 'Drug Discovery World' confirmed how a European research site of a pharmaceutical company was able to purchase a Highres Biosolutions platform for shared use across two separate secondary screening departments.
The subsequent ability to run multiple, miniaturised assays in parallel led to a 46 per cent reduction in quarterly revenue spend that was directly attributed to the purchase of the flexible automation system.
