Pre-Conference Focus Day: 17th May 2010

09.00 Opening Remarks From Chairperson

09.10 Broad Institute Case Study: An Automation Evolution

• Transitioning from an academic, manual system to an industrial scale, fully automated Compound Management system in less than two years
• Installation, validation, and optimisation of two fully integrated automated systems
• Employing computational chemistry resources to evaluate commercial sources of compounds to augment the compound collections
• Utilising the capabilities of the CM systems to foster improvements in screening system workflows
• Expanding the reach of Compound Management to other departments within the Broad Institute to identify, attain and store valuable compounds in support of their research projects
• 2010 and beyond: Ongoing process improvements that allow for future capacity building and high-throughput

Dr Gregory Wendel
Manager, Compound Management
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

09.50 Workflow Automation Case Study: Assay Ready Plate Production For Screening And Daily Project Support

• Establishing parallel workflows on one robotic automated store
• Rapidly processing different orders, multiple assay ready plate formats and replicating plates, all at the same time
• Integration of robotic components including operating multiple acoustic dispensers, centrifuges, and plate sealers as part of the automated parallel processing
• Use of heat sealing and peeling as an alternative to plate lids

Mark Hayward
Director, Analytical Chemistry and Laboratory Automation
Lundbeck Research

11.00 Non-Contact Acoustic Liquid Handling: Case Study

Impact to CM/Screening Interface, Cost Cutting and Implementation of Further Automation Tools

• Using automation between sites and standardising formats and processes
• How customers’ demands change with new automation technology
• Discussing data to demonstrate reliable deliveries and making process improvements based on results

Hans Eriksson
Compound Management, Lead Generation
AstraZeneca

Panel Discussion

11.40 Analysis Of Acoustic Dispensing: Friend Or Foe To Sample Management?

• Examining the paradigm shift from HT automation to smaller volume, flexible dispensing
• IC50 validation of smaller volumes
• QC measures for barely visible compounds
• Dealing with water uptake in smaller samples
• Discussing what complex automation, investment and responsibilities by many departments are necessary for acoustic dispensing
• Sharing experiences using large automated stores for dispensing less than twenty micro litres

Panellists:

13.30 The Impact Of Contamination From Disposable Plastic Labware In Biological Assays

• Discussing several examples of how solvent-extractable contaminants from plastic labware possess biological activity impacting biological assay results
• Bio-characterisation of contaminants: Applying analytical chemistry to prepare samples for testing
• Using chromatography/mass spectroscopy analysis of the DMSO-extracted material to study various contaminants
• Solutions to preventing contamination including DMSO washing and choice of plastic labware
• Ongoing studies examining bio-contaminants

Dr Moneesh Chatterjee
Group Leader, Lead Discovery, Profiling and Compound Management
Bristol-Myers Squibb

14.10 Integrated Compound Management Support For Lead Optimisation: Automated Generation Of Customised Assay-Ready Plates

• Prototyping, final design and implementation of a fully automated compound management system
• Innovative sample administration features
• Dynamic workflow creation based on specific project needs
• User definable cherry picking to minimise freeze/thaw cycles and optimise processing efficiency
• Case studies: Lessons learned and future enhancements

Catherine Quintero
Senior Automation Engineer
Merck & Co.

15.20 Improving The Connection Between Compound Management And UHTS Through Integration Of New Automation And Workflow Management

• Going live: Integrating new automation with our workflow management/compound inventory system
• Placing the liquid store into production and leveraging the 384 tube picking capability
• Laser sealer, Echo and X-peel combination aimed to improve long and short term integrity of compounds plus improve the efficiency of uHTS campaigns
• Workflow management integration of Dual BioCel 1200 to track plate replication and 384 tube production
• Supplying compounds to Biology, DMPK and Research teams

Tim Dawes
Senior Scientific Manager, Early Leads
Genentech

Panel Discussion

16.00 Peer To Peer Discussion: Analysing Today’s Compound Automation Challenges To Benchmark Your Company Strategies

• Automated solid dispensing and storage for compounds
• Automated weighing of compounds: What’s possible?
• Evaluating flexible workstation models: Benefits and implementation

Panellists:

17.15 - 20.15 Evening Workshop: Scalable Solutions For Compound Management

The advantages of applying automation to compound management are widely recognised. Increased capacity, throughput and reliability enable unattended operation to supply a seamless link between compound management and screening operations. To implement a successful automation strategy, it is important to ensure it is appropriate for the current purpose, but also tailored to allow expansion as workflows and requirements change. This workshop will work through “real world” examples of how researchers are using platforms that take advantage of advanced docking technology to design intuitive and future proof compound management systems. Through presentations and interactive work sessions (led by speakers from pharmaceutical companies and research institutes), participants will learn the range of systems that can be designed for a variety of needs including:

• Plate and tube store robotic integrations
• Small-scale acoustic dispenser integrations
• Larger-scale plate production systems
• Large scale screening systems with on-board “just-in-time” acoustic dispensing
• Flexibility of technology/format within a single system

This workshop will encourage participant and presenter interaction, actively sharing their experiences across different fields of compound management to ensure a productive session for all who attend.

Workshop Leaders: