Agilent, Singapore Institute Launch Drug Screening Center

BioCel system (Agilent Technologies)

Agilent Technologies in Santa Clara, California and Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) unveiled a comprehensive drug screening platform for biomedical researchers. The service, called the Singapore Screening Centre, will reside in A*STAR’s Experimental Therapeutics Centre.

Agilent and A*STAR say the platform can conduct high-throughput screenings to identify potential drug candidates against diseases, using a library of over 300,000 chemical compounds. The Singapore Screening Centre uses an Agilent BioCel system (pictured left) that automates and coordinates the various processes of high-throughput screening, including compound management, assay plate preparation, and experiment replication.

Agilent customized the BioCel system to meet the Singapore Screening Centre’s requirements. The refinements include integration with the center’s laboratory management system to keep the BioCel database and sample inventory in synch and up to date.

A*STAR is expected to use the service in its collaborations with Duke University and the National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School to screen for new gastric cancer medicines. Other collaborations with DSO National Laboratories and A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore to discover anti-bacterial drugs are also expected to use the service.

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