The power of a microfluidic approach to high screening is demonstrable, as it will allow NovaScreen will examine as much as 500,000 compounds against an inflammatory target.
Microfluidics deals with the behaviour, precise control and manipulation of microlitre and nanolitre volumes of fluids. Advances in microfluidics technology are revolutionising molecular biology procedures for DNA analysis (e.g., polymerase chain reaction and high-throughput sequencing), and proteomics.
Under the terms of the agreement, Wyeth will use the services of Caliper's LabChip 3000 microfluidic screening platform to help eliminate false positives in the primary screen, providing more relevant and accurate information. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Wyeth hope to produce screening data that shapes their drug discovery efforts by identifying novel compounds that may get overlooked with other techniques.
"NovaScreen provides another avenue for companies to access Caliper's proven microfluidic technology," said David Manyak, president of NovaScreen Biosciences.
"Pharmaceutical companies can outsource screening projects to NovaScreen to ensure that the highest quality technologies are used without the upfront investment to purchase in-house systems."
Caliper Life Science's LabChip 3000 drug discovery system has become a popular system in the drug discovery industry, working its way to becoming the choice for most of the major pharmaceutical companies.
The system essentially miniaturises, integrates and automates enzymatic and cell-based assays. LabChip assays are separations-based, so the quality of results exceeds what is achievable in homogenous, well-based assays.
High Z' values, few false positives, few false negatives and analytical quality reproducibility are the reasons cited for the increasing reliance on the LabChip 3000.
Depending on the system configuration selected, the LabChip 3000 is well suited to all areas of drug discovery: including assay development, primary screening, secondary/selectivity screening and lead optimisation.