Allschwil near Basel, Switzerland
November 2022
At its site in Allschwil near Basel, Idorsia discovers and develops novel drugs to address unmet medical needs of neurological, cardiovascular, and immune-oncological indications. Starting points for medicinal chemistry programs are generated by high-throughput, robot-supported screening of a compound library. It contains more than 350’000 carefully curated substances and is a key asset of Idorsia.
The screening library consists of more than 1’000 sealed microplates, each containing 384 solutions. The plates are maintained in an automated store at controlled ambient temperature in a very dry atmosphere, as the solvent (DMSO) is notoriously hygroscopic.
To accommodate the growing library, the Compound Management team compared different options to at least double the existing storage capacity of 1’000 positions.LiCONiC’s STX3k0 store with its uniquely compact stacker mechanism allowed even to triple the capacity on a similar footprint to the previous device. With lab space being very limited, this was a decisive argument. As LiCONiC could offer the device with a high-efficiency air de-humidifier, the team now also saves on tank-supplied purified nitrogen.
Based on their long historical experience, LiCONiC’s engineers could propose a surprisingly simple, low-level integration. Thanks to the motivated collaboration of engineers from BioNex, LiCONiC, and Idorsia, this solution was implemented within expected timelines.
The Compound Management team at Idorsia is productively using the new STX3k0 store every day since September 2022. They are happy that with the store’s sample capacity, they no longer must swap hundreds of plates from the -20°C room, and back, every few days. It is better for them, and for the compounds!
Source: LiCONiC press materials
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