Targeted testing accelerates drug development
A new high through-put screening system has been developed which will greatly facilitate and speed up the process of pharmaceutical drug development. A large number of genetically engineered reporter cell lines have been created which can be used to evaluate the quality and efficacy of newly developed drugs, to screen new molecules for potential therapeutic applications and to identify new targets for drug action. Any activity caused by the drugs, or any response to them, is reported by the cells, and this information can be readily assessed and quantified. This approach will become of enormous importance as genomic approaches and the sequencing of the human genome identify increasing numbers of targets. 3D structure evaluation has also been used to gain further insights into the molecular mechanisms of drug action and enable improved drug design. The pharmaceutical industry will especially welcome technology that can reduce the time spent both on the development of a drug and its evaluation. In addition, the need for testing on animals will be substantially reduced.
