Our team has the expertise and equipment to design and run the optimal screening approach for your target – from high throughput screening (HTS), utilising libraries of hundreds-of-thousands of compounds, through to iterative-, fragment-, focused- and diversity-based approaches. Forged from our many years of experience, including with the significant portfolio of the European Lead Factory, we will help you analyse and interpret the data, recommending next steps, deploying hypothesis-based medicinal chemistry, and making a genuine scientific contribution to your project team.
Key expertise includes:
We offer access to an in-house diversity-based library of 125K IP-free molecules, which can be used for HTS, or cherry-picked to build custom sets, enabling you to build the ideal library to match your needs.
BioAscent has also assembled a bespoke fragment library and has created both target-class biased libraries and smaller diversity collections from our main library to provide focussed and iterative screening capabilities for lead generation.
In addition, our computational chemists and compound management experts can work with you to design and cost-effectively source custom sets from the millions of compounds available in supplier databases. This provides our clients the opportunity to access bespoke screening strategies, tailoring the most scientifically valid approach to hit discovery with their budget.
The scientists at BioAscent have world-leading experience in interpretation of screening, including diversity based high throughput screens, as demonstrated by our work in the European Lead Factory, where we have worked collaboratively with our partners to drive the generation of validated hit series for more than 80 projects and provided high quality compound management services enabling more than 150 projects for nine pharma companies as well as the European Screening Centre.
EPAC: Identification of a novel class of benzofuran oxoacetic acid-derived ligands that selectively activate cellular EPAC. View paper.
ABAD: In Vitro Assay Development and HTS of Small-Molecule Human ABAD/17beta-HSD10 Inhibitors as Therapeutics in Alzheimer’s Disease. View paper.
Reducing the PAINS in high throughput screening: assay design as a tool for maximising efficiency. View article.
Using a library of Pan-Assay Interference (PAINS) small molecules to understand and improve HTS outcomes. View poster.
The discovery of new inhibitors of insulin-regulated aminopeptidase by a high-throughput screening of 400,000 drug-like compounds. J. Gising, S. Honarnejad, M. Bras, G.L. Baillie, S.P. McElroy, P. S. Jones, A. Morrison, J. Beveridge, M. Hallberg, M. Larhed. View paper.
Discovery and characterization of novel TRPML1 agonists. X. Peng, C.J. Holler, A-M.F. Alves, M.G. Oliviera, M. Speake, A. Pugliese, M.R. Oskouei, I.D de Freitas, A.Y.-P. Chen, R. Gallegos, S.M. McTighe, G. Koenig, R.S. Hurst, J-F. Blain, J.C. Lanter, D.A. Burnett. View paper.
Application of particle swarm optimization to understand mechanism of action of allosteric inhibitors of the enzyme HSD14ß13. A. Ford, F. Breitgoff, M. Pasquani, A. MacKenzie, S. McElroy, S. Baker, P. Abrusci, S. Varzandeh, L. Bird, A. Gavard, D. Damerell, M. Redhead. View paper.
The identification and characterisation of autophagy inhibitors from the published kinase inhibitor sets. M. Zachari, J. Rainard, G. Pandarakalam, L. Robinson, J. Gillespie; M. Rajamanickam; V. Hamon; A. Morrison; I. Ganley; S. McElroy. View paper.
Identification of a novel class of benzofuran oxoacetic acid-derived ligands that selectively activate cellular EPAC; Cells; 8(11); 1425; 2019. E. Beck, E. Parnell, A. Cowley, A. Porter J. Gillespie, J. Robinson, L. Robinson A. Pannifer, V. Hamon, P. Jones, A. Morrison, S. McElroy, M. Timmerman, H. Rutjes, P. Mahajan, J. Wiejak, U. Luchowska-Stańska, D. Morgan, G. Barker, H. Rehmann and S. Yarwood. View paper.
Reducing the PAINS in high throughput screening: assay design as a tool for maximising efficiency; Drug Discovery World; Fall 2019, 53. S McElroy, P. Jones. View paper.
Synthesis and structure–activity relationships of N-(4-benzamidino)-oxazolidinones–potent and selective inhibitors of kallikrein-related peptidase 6; chemRxiv DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv.9788276, 2019. E. De Vita, N. Smits, H. van den Hurk, E. Beck, J. Hewitt, G. Baillie, E. Russell, A. Pannifer, V. Hamon, A.Morrison, S. McElroy, P. Jones, N. Ignatenko, N. Gunkel and A. Miller. View paper.
A high-throughput screen for the identification of compounds that inhibit nematode gene expression by targeting spliced leader trans-splicing. Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist. 2019 Apr 5;10:28-37. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2019.04.001. G. Pandarakalam, M. Speake, S. McElroy, A. Alturkistani, L. Philippe, J. Pettitt, B. Müller, B. Connolly. View paper.
Targeting Quorum Sensing: High-Throughput Screening to Identify Novel LsrK Inhibitors. Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Jun 25;20(12). pii: E3112. doi: 10.3390/ijms20123112. V. Gatta, P. Ilina, A. Porter, S McElroy, P Tammela. View paper.
Abstract LB-B17: Characterization of small molecule inhibitors of the Nrf2-Keap1 interaction using MicroScale Thermophoresis. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 17 (1 Supplement), LB-B17-LB-B1. J. Rainard, A. Morrison, A. Pannifer, P. Jones, R. Mead, S. McElroy. View paper.
Comprehensive Medicinal Chemistry III, Chapter 1.18, 505-519; Eds. S. Chackalamannil, D. Rotella, S. Ward; Oxford: Elsevier; 2017. European Lead Factory; F. Giordanetto, P. Jones, A. Nelson, J. Benningshof, G. Muller, A. Pannifer, S. van Boeckel and D. Tzalis. View paper.
The SULSA Assay Development Fund: accelerating translation of new biology from academia to pharma. Drug Discovery Today, February 2017, Volume 22, Issue 2, Pages 199-203. S. McElroy, P. Jones, V. Barrault. View paper.
In Vitro Assay Development and HTS of Small-Molecule Human ABAD/17beta-HSD10 Inhibitors as Therapeutics in Alzheimer’s Disease. SLAS Discovery, 2017, Volume 22, Issue 6, Pages 676-685. L. Aitken, G. Baillie, A. Pannifer, A. Morrison, P. Jones, T. Smith, S. McElroy, F. Gunn-Moore. View paper.
Identification of a Novel, Small Molecule Partial Agonist for the Cyclic AMP Sensor, EPAC1. Nature Scientific Reports 7, 2017, Article number: 294. E. Parnell, S. McElroy, J. Wiejak, G. Baillie, A. Porter, D. Adams, H. Rehmann, B. Smith & S. Yarwood. View paper.
The importance of triaging in determining the quality of output from high-throughput screening. Future Medicinal Chemistry, 2015, Vol. 7, No. 14, Pages 1847-1852. P. Jones, S. McElroy, A. Morrison, A. Pannifer. View paper.
Posters & case studies
Using a library of Pan-Assay Interference (PAINS) small molecules to understand and improve HTS outcomes. G. Baillie, A. Morrison, A. Pannifer, S. McElroy. Download PDF
The use of Dynamic Mass Redistribution (DMR) in the European Lead Factory (ELF): a case study. G. Baillie, O. Watt, S. McElroy Download PDF
The SULSA Assay Development Fund: a model for widening access to high throughput screening. S. McElroy, D. Barrault, P. Jones. Download PDF
The European Lead Factory: A Collaborative Approach to Drug Discovery. ESC Chemistry: F. MacLeod, A. Morrison, E. Beck, P. Jones, J. Hewitt, M. Matheson, J. Schulz, J. Robinson, L. Robinson, J. Gillespie, M. Huggett, M. Rajamanickam; ESC CMC: A. Pannifer, V. Hamon; ESC Biology: S. McElroy, M. Speake, G. Baillie, E. Russell, J. Rainard, A. Porter, G. Pandarakalam, N. Clark, D. Tegazzini. PPSC: H. Rutjes, C.A.A. van Boeckel, N. Smits, E. van Doornmalen, T. W. Lam, M. Bras, C. S. Schofield; J. J. Brem; M. A. McDonough, M. Van der Stelt, F. J. Janssen, P.P. Geurink, H. Ovaa, H. S. Overkleeft, A. C. M. van Esbroeck, M. P. Baggelaar, H. den Dulk. Download PDF
Lead generation: discovery of novel KLK6 Inhibitors as novel anti-cancer drugs. E. De Vita, N. Smits, H. van den Hurk, E. M. Beck, J. Hewitt, G. Baillie, E. Russell, A. Pannifer, V. Hamon, A.Morrison, S. P. McElroy, P. Jones, N. A. Ignatenko, N. Gunkel and A. K. Miller. View case study.
