machine pipetting

Accelerate your process for identifying your most promising drug compounds, and enable your medicinal chemists to receive data faster with our cost-effective lead optimization services.

Send us an inquiry

SelectScreen Lead Optimization Services offer drug discovery researchers a faster method for narrowing the selection of drug candidates for downstream selectivity profiling and further investigation. The assays we perform can be target-based, investigating changes to function, or phenotypic, examining the biologic response that a compound has on cells.


Assay Technologies

Our in-house team can run biochemical and cellular assays to optimize drug potency and generate dose-response curves, identifying the compounds that cause the desired effect in your target of interest. Choose from our broad portfolio of assay technologies*, or provide your own targets/assays and we can perform validation.

Biochemical AssaysCellular Assays
  • Kinases
  • Nuclear receptors
  • P450
  • Pathways
  • Post-translational modifications
  • GPCRs
  • Ion channels
  • Nuclear receptors
  • Cell health
    • Cell proliferation (PrestoBlue™ reagent and CyQUANT™ assay)
    • Cellular processes, such as oxidative stress (CellROX™ reagents and MitoSOX™ indicators), autophagy, apoptosis (CellEvent™ reagent)

*We also can perform validation and screening of client-provided assays that do not utilize our technologies, or build a custom assay to fit our specific screening needs. If you would like to request a technology outside of the Thermo Fisher Scientific™ portfolio, send us an inquiry.

Data Delivery in Days

Lead optimization services offer an advantage over broader screening because we can deliver data quickly, typically in 3 to 5 days (depending on the assay), and at lower cost than large panel screens. This enables you to make chemistry decisions more rapidly and move leads forward.

Example:

 Broad profilingLead optimization
Number of targets/assaysManyFew
ModeSingle point with dose-response curve follow-upDose-response curves
Submission scheduleOn demandWeekly schedule
Client commitmentOn demand6+ months
Turnaround timeAvg. 4 to 8 daysAvg. 2 to 5 days
Cost$$$

After leads are optimized, top drug candidates can be carried forward for selectivity profiling to determine specificity and downstream impact in preparation for possible future clinical testing.

To discuss your lead optimization program needs with us, send us an inquiry


Personalized support

Drug Discovery Services team

From project beginning to end, you can rely on our Drug Discovery Services project management team to provide frequent project communication via a single point of contact.

Watch this two-minute video to see how our project managers and technical specialists create an exceptional experience for our customers. Submit order

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.