The demand for R&D to deliver breakthrough therapies continues to rise while lab funding and resources remain stagnant. Allocated timelines are shrinking. At the same time, regulatory scrutiny is increasing, making the need for innovation and precision more urgent than ever. Even the most technically informed and experienced lab staff can feel the pressure of faster timelines.
Lab automation in drug discovery, then, acts as a pressure relief valve. Viewing this tool as a luxury diminishes its efficacy as a practical, scalable solution that can immediately assist teams in accelerating early R&D, reducing manual errors, and managing complex data—without needing to overhaul existing workcells. Whether you want to improve throughput or enable better decision-making through integrated data, lab automation in drug discovery offers a way forward.
Why Drug Discovery Needs Automation
According to a study by Frost & Sullivan, the integration of automation into workflows can reduce drug R&D time from 15 years to five. Despite being dated, this 2017 statistic still highlights how effective automation has long been in the R&D space. Today, ever-increasing pressures include a wider range of drug targets, more complex biological models, and a growing mountain of data.
To remain competitive, labs must master precision in the D-M-T-A (Design Make Test Analyze) cycle. Any errors can set a project back weeks or even years. Even the most seasoned bench scientists are still human, and repetitive motions can lead to fatigue and injury. This stress on people can introduce bottlenecks, increase the risk of manual error, and make it more challenging to maintain consistent, repeatable datasets.
Maintaining reproducibility becomes elusive when all processes aren’t standardized or tracked. Even minor inconsistencies between tests can have significant consequences when regulatory compliance is on the line. Automation addresses these issues head-on. By streamlining routine tasks, enabling real-time data capture, and ensuring consistency across experiments, lab automation in drug discovery lays the foundation for faster, more reliable, automated drug discovery workflows.
What Drug Discovery Automation Looks Like in Practice
Automated solutions aren’t just shiny, new technologies here to make previous methods irrelevant. At their core, they are a coordinated approach and ecosystem of tools designed to automate repetitive, tedious tasks, allowing researchers to focus on the more pivotal aspects of their work, such as drawing insights from analysis.
While automated solutions are often tailored to individual lab environments, you can typically expect to find these components in today’s drug discovery labs:
- Robotic liquid handling and sample movement: These systems ensure precise and repeatable transfers, which are critical for assay accuracy and high-throughput screening. They can perform multiple precise movements, including playing a significant part in creating a fully automated LC/MS workstation.
- Integrated instrument scheduling: Drug discovery lab automation solutions like Green Button Go (GBG) Scheduler can coordinate multiple instruments, even outside working hours, minimizing a lab’s total downtime and maximizing operational efficiency.
- Orchestration platforms like Green Button Go (GBG) Orchestrator: These platforms serve as the conductor of the operation, connecting devices, software, and workflows into one streamlined system.
- Automated data capture and LIMS/ELN integration: Data can be automatically recorded and routed into lab information systems the moment a sample is processed. This capability significantly reduces the likelihood of errors and enhances traceability.
If you’re unsure what to look out for in an automated system, choosing drug discovery solutions based on flexibility will likely garner healthy, long-term output. Automated solutions that are modular, machine-agnostic, and scalable allow teams to start small, integrate with existing instruments, and expand as the lab’s needs grow.
Real-World Applications
Automated systems aren’t just good for pipetting liquid samples in the corner of your lab. These systems have a multitude of use cases and applications, including:
Automated LC/MS Workflows for Faster Sample Analysis
This first example includes liquid handling, but it is performed on LC/MS workcells that comprise approximately a dozen interconnected components. Integrating robotic systems with mass spectrometry allows labs to expedite sample preparation and analysis. Utilizing automated LC/MS workflows can help DMTA optimize processing, facilitate error recovery, and provide rapid results, thereby accelerating the overall drug discovery process.
High-Throughput Screening (HTS) Coordination with Robotics and Scheduling
Automation solutions for drug discovery can facilitate high-throughput screening processes both during and outside working hours. One GBG user stated that he primarily uses Scheduler for a “large screening system with over 10 instruments integrated.” This operational efficiency supercharges HTS workflows with minimal additional legwork.
Enabling 24/7 Workflows Without Full System Replacement
Imagine if your laboratory could operate continuously without needing a complete system overhaul. During off-hours, autonomous robots can move samples between workstations, ensuring uninterrupted operations 24/7. This increased bandwidth provided by automation is exactly what keeps your lab competitive.
Supporting DMTA Cycle Workflows via Orchestration
Orchestration platforms like GBG Orchestrator jumpstart digital DMTA workflows by automating and coordinating various workflow stages. Orchestration software collects all expected and aggregated data from workcells, providing researchers with a more precise view of the factors that caused a test’s result. This can help everyone involved design smarter, more repeatable results.
6 Benefits of Automating Drug Discovery Workflows
1. Accelerated screening and assay turnaround times
Automation can significantly reduce the time required to process and analyze samples, enabling teams to move from hypothesis to insight more quickly.
2. Improved reproducibility and data traceability
These systems can capture every step and its aggregate data during a running experiment, making it easier to reproduce results and audit workflows across the drug discovery pipeline.
3. Fewer manual errors, greater compliance
Standardizing automated processes can help labs investigate the reproducibility of their manual processes. This gives labs a greater understanding of how to implement effective protocols.
4. Seamless coordination between instruments, systems, and people
Orchestration platforms create a connected lab environment, ensuring instruments and software work harmoniously—streamlining even the most complex workflows.
5. Scalable systems that grow with evolving lab needs
Modular, machine-agnostic automation platforms enable you to start small and scale up without needing to overhaul and replace existing infrastructure.
6. More time for scientists to focus on discovery, not manual labor
Automation frees up valuable time for your researchers, allowing everyone in your lab to shift from repetitive tasks to more strategic, high-impact work.
How Biosero Supports Automation at Scale
Equipment from multiple manufacturers can feel like a road stop when trying to implement an automated solution. That’s why scaling DMTA cycle automation across your organization requires more than great hardware—it takes a flexible, intelligent platform to connect everything together.
GBG software is machine agnostic, meaning you don’t need to jerry-rig a solution just to create an automated workflow. Both GBG Orchestrator and Scheduler platforms help create unified, automated systems, but differ in functionality.
- Green Button Go Orchestrator unifies instruments, data systems, and processes into a single, coordinated workflow.
- Green Button Go Scheduler optimizes instrument usage, handles queueing, and keeps everything running smoothly in real-time.
Ultimately, both platforms have something integral in common—Scheduler and Orchestrator seamlessly integrate with legacy and modern lab hardware. This approach can extend the life of your legacy equipment while enabling the rollout of modular equipment in your lab. So, your team can scale automation workflows as your lab grows and evolves with changing throughput needs.
And GBG isn’t a one-time software installation. Biosero offers comprehensive training, detailed documentation, and ongoing support to help your lab get the most out of your systems at every stage.
Ready to Future-Proof Your Lab Workflows?
Drug discovery solutions are evolving, and labs making faster breakthroughs are embracing automation. From accelerating screening and improving reproducibility to enabling round-the-clock workflows and seamless data capture, early-stage drug discovery automation solutions are helping R&D teams work smarter, faster, and more efficiently than ever before.
It’s worth noting that drug discovery lab automation solutions can benefit start-ups, mid-sized labs, and even large, well-funded operations, because they’re flexible enough to scale with you.
At Biosero, we specialize in helping research teams bridge the gap between legacy systems and modern automation. With powerful tools like Green Button Go Orchestrator and deep expertise in LC/MS automation, we’re here to help you build a more scalable, integrated, and future-ready lab.
