Discussion

Non-contact dispensing is the preferred method for adding research compounds to assays, to minimise the risk of contamination. Compound Management (CM) at AstraZeneca Mölndal, has established a process which enables screening scientists to receive compounds in the desired format directly into their cell plates, with full tracking of plates and data within the corporate sample management system.

CM at AstraZeneca Mölndal recently refocused its activities to support project screening in LI/LO phase. As part of this realignment, an automated system was set up, to be shared by CM and the screening groups, making it possible to deliver compounds in assay ready plates containing cells. Cell plates are delivered to CM, which handles the compound addition with an acoustic dispenser by means of an automated system. Previously, this task was performed by the screener who – as well as doing the actual transfer on an “offline” instrument manually – also had to keep track of the data. This tedious and potentially error-prone approach has been replaced with an automated method, freeing up time for the scientists, who can now track each plate effortlessly. Some of the key benefits using this setup include the provision of complex compound layouts, consistency of process using an automated setup and traceability of data. Currently several phenotypic screening projects are supported with this method as well as general cell based assays.