Abstracts of papers presented at the ISLAR (International symposium on laboratory automation and robotics) 1997.

s of papers presented at the ISLAR (International Symposium on Laboratory Automation and Robotics) 1997 The 15th International Symposium on Laboratory Automation and Robotics was held from 19-22 October 1997 in Boston, USA. State-of-the-art developments in laboratory automation and robotics were reflected in the symposium programme, which included papers and posters on all aspects of the technology--drug discovery research, data handling and data management, chemical analysis, re-engineering the laboratory, laboratory workstations, bioanalytical assays, managing laboratory automation, dissolution testing, pharmaceutical analysis, automation and combinatorial chemistry, validating automated methods and advanced topics. We are printing abstracts of papers from ISLAR and we hope that you find them informative and productive. The 1998 ISLAR will be held in Boston, USA from 18-21 October 1998. Session topics will be similar to previous years, but will also include high throughput screening, re-engineering the laboratory, and increasing productivity. For more information, contact Christine O’Neil at 508 497 2224; fax on 508 435 3439; send an e-mail to islar@ISLAR.com or visit the ISLAR pages at http://www.islar.com. Technology and the new high-throughput drug discovery paradigms Andrew Shaw, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, DE, USA The development of powerful new research technologies has led to greatly enhanced expectations of the discovery phase of pharmaceutical research. However, as well as bringing the promise of new efficiency, the rapid pace of new technology development and implementation constantly creates new bottlenecks in the research process, threatens competitive obsolescence in the technology platform and creates questions about organizational structure. This presentation gave a personal overview of the problems of creating and maintaining an effective capability in the lead discovery phase of research, while highlighting areas for technology development. Potential applications for laboratory automation in drug discovery and development: a drug metabolism perspective Gerald T. Miwa, Dupont Merck Pharmaceutical, 2Vewark, DE, USA Analytical throughput capacity is a common limiting resource in conducting pharmacokinetic studies. Pharmacokinetic studies are an integral part of nonclinical toxicology studies, as well as clinical pharmacology research. For many pharmaceutical companies, pharmacokinetic studies are also becoming an integral part of the drug discovery paradigm. In contrast to drug development, where throughput requirements are dictated by many samples from few compounds, drug discovery is characterized by few samples from many compounds. This difference affords new applications for automation during drug discovery. The future direction for these applications at DuPont Merck was described. Success is not necessarily automatic Alastair Selkirk, Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, IL, USA The pharmaceutical industry needs to not only discover new molecules but also to develop them as efficiently and effectively as possible. Success is being first to market, not necessarily first to proof of concept. To be successful, development needs to reduce timelines while maintaining quality and preventing burnout. While automation obviously plays a very significant role in this approach, many other factors must be in place for automation to be as effective as possible. These factors include planning, process optimization, organizational structure, people development and the need to see the total picture. This presentation discussed these factors and their relationship with automation. It evaluated less obvious areas of automation, like document management, as well as the more established ones and discussed the premise, that it is the integration of all these aspects, including automation, that truly offers the biggest opportunities. Re-inventing drug discovery: issues and actions in the quest for innovation and productivity Pradip Banerjee, Andersen Consulting, Florham Park, 2VJ, USA As it approaches the 21st century, the pharmaceutical industry has re-emphasized its focus on innovative drug discovery as the key to future success. Prioritizing innovation has become a strategic imperative in an increasingly competitive environment, and the hurdles for success are extremely high. In order to sustain revenue growths at the 10% level that the industry has historically produced, the major global pharmaceutical players must average between 5-6 significant (that is, with a sales potential of greater than $350M/year) NCE launches annually in the future. Andersen Consulting has conducted a study of how pharmaceutical companies must restructure their drug discovery programmes to develop the high performance drug discovery processes necessary for future success. The 0142-0453/98 $12.00 (C) 1998 Taylor & Francis Ltd 31 Abstracts of papers presented at the 1997 ISLARs of papers presented at the 1997 ISLAR objectives of the study were to understand the future direction of the discovery research process, analysing the impact of new technology, the implications for process organization and management, and the goals that cutting-edge discovery companies are setting themselves for the future. A broad survey was undertaken of discovery companies, with a representative sample of ten companies ranging from the top-tier pharmaceutical majors, through middle and lower tier players to biopharmaceutical companies, in the US, Europe, and Japan. One hundred interviewees covered all aspects of involvement with the discovery process, among them senior management of the R&D function and therapeutic areas, and individuals in biological, chemical, development and IT functions. The Andersen Consulting study highlights the intimidating scale of the task facing discovery companies. In order to maintain the goals set to maintain market competitiveness, more NCE candidates for clinical development must be produced, and faster. New goals set by companies surveyed are a minimum of one NCE per 100 discovery research staff, and a doubling of the speed of delivery of NCEs to clinical development, from up to seven years to less than three. Quality must not be compromised by quantity; company goals are more development-ready compounds to lower the attrition rate of clinical development, and, ultimately, to ensure that the launch of truly innovative products to reap maximum reward on investment. The effective exploitation of the new technologies transforming the drug discovery process will be a key to meeting these goals. It is clear from Andersen Consulting research that the key to high performance drug discovery is as much about the development of effective processes, information management, and people organization as it is about new technologies. Andersen Consulting has developed recommendations for an approach to high performance drug discovery which optimizes the interaction of these elements. Effective co-ordination of technology, process and people will require an IT integration strategy which optimizes the potential of all three. Knowledge, rather than information management must be the key goal, with comprehensive and integrated applications to support the whole process from target generation and characterization, lead identification and optimization, and the discovery/development interface. Placing and preserving priorities: projects, productivity, progress and people John Babiak, Wyeth-Ayerst Research, Princeton, NJ, USA Robotic High Throughput Screening (HTS) within pharmaceutical companies has become a valuable resource to search for proprietary chemical structures which interact with novel biomolecular targets such as enzymes, cellular receptors or ion channels. Under some circumstances these chemicals may serve as leads which can be optimized into marketable drugs. To maximize success it is necessary to use HTS in a manner which complements and facilitates the changing priorities of drug discovery research. 32 Numerous forces compete for the limited resources of a HTS group. Major factors which can influence priorities are projects, productivity, progress and people. The challenge to the HTS group is to provide excellent and timely screening services, while continuing to devote efforts to new technologies and personnel development. There are a great variety of issues considered by senior management in determining the priority of the project associated with a particular screen. Examples include the medical need for a treatment, anticipated market size for the expected drug, the status of related activities by competitors, validity of the molecular target as a mediator of the disease and perceived case of development. Since it is often the case that the projects with the greatest potential rewards have the lowest probability of success, it is not surprising that priorities among projects can change dramatically and quickly. HTS groups are frequently evaluated by numerical measures of productivity, such as samples tested per week and number of screens completed per year. Naturally, this emphasis on throughput encourages the HTS group to prioritize in favour of screen designs which are easier to implement and run. Although in many cases conversion of assays into preferred screen formats will improve efficiency, some molecular targets may be deprioritized because they will decrease the perceived productivity of the HTS group. Progress in developing new technologies and a commitment to development of the people within the HTS organization are two other factors which must also influence the setting of priorities. Evaluating and introducing new technologies--hardware, software, assay formats--is time consuming and reduces productivity in the short term. When successful, however, the results may be improved productivity or the ability to perform screens previously deprioritized for being too difficult. People development must be a major con