Understanding
Drug Discovery
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is drug discovery?
Drug discovery is the process of identifying and developing new compounds or biologics with therapeutic potential. It includes target identification, screening, lead optimization, and preclinical evaluation.
Why is drug discovery important?
How does BICO support the automation of drug discovery?
BICO accelerates drug discovery through workflow automation and predictive model creation. Green Button Go by Biosero gives researchers the ability to automate and orchestrate entire labs, coordinating machines across vendors, and increasing throughput. Our automated workstations coordinate and streamline complex experiments, such as Cell Line Development, reducing manual intervention.
Our 3D bioprinters by CELLINK enable the fabrication of physiologically relevant tissue models, offering an alternative to traditional 2D assays or animal studies and supporting more predictive preclinical evaluation.
The spheroONE by Cellenion enables the production of assay-ready plates for drug testing on homogenized 3D cell culture models (Spheroids and Organoids), further offering an alternative to traditional 2D assays and animal studies.
How we support drug discovery
We provide instruments and solutions spanning the entire drug discovery workflow. Our solutions boost efficiency and accuracy, reducing the risk of failure of drug candidates by improving data quality and boosting throughput, leading to a faster time to market
With our solutions, researchers can run more assays with less reagent, reduce the cost to bring drugs to market, improve data reliability, and minimize manual labor.
Reduced costs and timelines
BICO accelerates the drug discovery pipeline through both partial and full lab orchestration with Green Button Go. By automating scheduling, instrument coordination, and workflow execution, compounds move from idea to the market faster, reducing labor, consumables, and overall project costs.
Improved success rates
Our platform helps researchers generate more predictive preclinical models. 3D bioprinted tissues better replicate human physiology, while automated liquid handling, single-cell dispensing, and integrated workflows allow precise assay design. Together, these tools improve the accuracy of screening, hit identification, and downstream validation, increasing the likelihood of successful drug candidates.
Enhanced reproducibility and data quality
Automation removes variability caused by manual handling, ensuring consistent experimental execution and sample processing. By standardizing every step from single-cell isolation to high-throughput assays, BICO technologies deliver reproducible, high-quality data, enabling confident interpretation and robust decision-making.
Addressing complex biological targets
Modern drug discovery often targets complex, heterogeneous biological systems. BICO supports these efforts by through various approaches, including single-cell proteomics, 3D in vitro model creation, and integrated automated workflows. This allows researchers to investigate difficult targets with precision, scale experiments effectively, and capture biologically relevant insights that are difficult to achieve with traditional 2D or bulk methods.
Sub-Applications
High-Throughput Screening
Rapid testing of large compound libraries against validated molecular targets enables the identification of initial hits for further development. High-throughput screening automation relies on precise compound dispensing to reduce reagent usage and improve reproducibility, making it central to modern drug discovery screening.
Personalized Medicine
Dose Response and Compound Dilution
Products for Drug Discovery
Together, BICO technologies cover the full spectrum of drug discovery, from miniaturized compound screening and dose-response profiling to biologics development, assay imaging, and advanced tissue modeling, enabling a connected, efficient, and reproducible R&D pipeline.
