Sanofi-Aventis launches dScreen Consortium

Based in the Alsace BioValley in Strasbourg, the consortium will utilize the pico-liter volumes and ultra-high speed capabilities of RainDance’s technology and systems to achieve breakthrough performance in high-throughput drug screening methodologies, said Sanofi-Aventis.

The aim is to develop a digital microfluidic system for quantitative high-throughput screening of bio-active compounds using purified targets and cell-based assays. The very high-throughput will enable the measurement of dose-response curves for every compound in a chemical library. The second objective is to develop a new system for compound storage in which each compound will be stored into droplets using a microfluidic device.

The consortium was founded with the assistance of the Alsace BioValley Cluster, France, which helped secure financing and support for the program. It is reported that the dScreen Consortium assembles: the drug screening expertise of Sanofi-Aventis; the unique expertise in droplet-based micro reactors of the Chemical Biology Laboratory at the Institute for Science and Supramolecular Engineering of Louis Pasteur University; and RainDance Technologies’s unique capabilities to apply droplet-based microfluidic technologies to human health and disease research.

Chris McNary, president and CEO of RainDance Technologies, said: “The speed, simplicity and minute volume of our droplets eliminate the need for unnecessarily complex automation solutions in high-throughput screening. Our technology will process 10 million droplets per hour on a single benchtop instrument, dramatically accelerating the drug discovery process while conserving precious screening compounds.”