Cell-Based Assays for Drug Discovery

The area of drug discovery tools is one of the newest and most important sectors of pharmaceutical research and development. The term drug discovery tools usually refers to high-content screening (HCS) and analysis and is composed of those applications that require sufficient levels of sample throughput, whereby complex cellular events and phenotypes can be studied. Elements of drug performance like toxicity and specificity can be established simultaneously using mixed cell types--primary cells, cell lines, cell subpopulations. HCS seeks to assess the impact of phenotypic and cellular changes that are brought about by gene modification (such as with RNA interference (RNAi) approaches) and/or drug (or compound) treatment. The purpose of this examination by TriMark Publications is to describe the specific segments of the global drug discovery tools market. Within this area, the report covers those segments that are highly active in terms of innovation and growth. Specifically, this study examines the markets for small lab equipment all the way up to highly automated, large automated platforms, as well as accessory equipment such as reagents, supplies and manufacturers’ original equipment manufacturer (OEM) additional equipment.