Assay Development and Screening

Complex Assays for Complex Targets: Next-gen Oncology Drug Discovery

• SS

  Serena Silver, PhD

  Head, Oncology Molecular Pharmacology
  Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research

Simple assays measuring cell viability have been a workhorse of the cancer research world, enabling high throughput biology endeavors to identify new targets and new drugs. However, limited success for some of these molecules as single agents in the clinic has underscored the need for drug combinations to effect lasting results in patients. In addition, the recent advances of new types of cancer targets, such as those in immune-oncology, often require more complex assays to interrogate this biology. Due to the nature of combination studies and high content assays, these are often limited by practical considerations in the quantity and scope of compounds that can be assessed. In these cases, considerable effort in rational screen design is required up front to ensure that our results will be actionable; using a deep understanding of the MOA of our compound toolkit and multiple chemotypes targeting key functions. I will present several methodologies and assays we have used to better understand the action of our molecules as well as to identify effective combination partners.