National Drug Discovery Centre

The WEHI National Drug Discovery Centre (NDDC) is a state-of-the-art facility offering affordable access to small-molecule testing and high-throughput screening (HTS). 

The NDDC has a track record of successful drug development with industry partners. 

The NDDC is embedded within world-class biology research at WEHI, positioning it to deliver first-in-class, innovative drug discovery projects. The NDDC is active from target discovery to preclinical candidate stage. 

We offer flexible access models, including commercial options, for services such as HTS, assay development, routine testing, and consultancy, tailored to meet the needs of academic researchers and industry partners. 

The NDDC provides assay and screening support for small molecule drug discovery efforts irrespective of therapeutic focus. We connect researchers with specialised expertise and equipment, helping to overcome key barriers in early-stage drug discovery.  

The NDDC has a track record of successful drug development with industry partners, most of them being headquartered overseas. Previous and current partners include global pharmaceutical companies, innovative small and medium-sized biotechnology companies, and academic research teams. 

In 2019, WEHI received $25 million from the Australian Government through the Medical Research Future Fund and $18 million from the Victorian Government. These funds build upon WEHI’s own $32 million investment, as well as previous Victorian Government support and generous philanthropic donations.

These investments support the expansion of the NDDC and its accessibility to the medical research community in Australia.

Our screening facility is equipped with three high-throughput robotic platforms, providing capability for both biochemical and cell-based assays (up to PC2/BSL2 containment standard). These platforms are highly configurable and capable of screening more than 30,000 compounds a day. 

The centre provides flexible and high-speed capability with outstanding reproducibility. We offer: 

• Access to more than 600,000 high-quality and diverse lead-like small molecules for HTS 
• Accurate acoustic dispensing of volumes as low as 2.5 nanolitres 
• Efficient miniaturisation to 384-well or 1536-well format 

All screening campaigns are supported by a laboratory information management system (LIMS) and barcode-based tracking, ensuring robust data management and traceability. 

More information

No. We aim to assist researchers in the development of innovative therapies to treat all types of human diseases.

Applications for subsidised screens are open to researchers from Australian universities, research institutions and small-to-medium enterprises. An expert review panel meets periodically to select the successful applications. These opportunities are highly competitive and sought after, reflecting the value and impact of the support provided. 

Researchers who are not eligible to apply for subsidised screens are encouraged to contact us regarding the possibility of collaborative or contract-based projects. 

If you are awarded a subsidised screen, your developed assay will be transferred to our high-throughput robotic platform. If possible, we will miniaturise your assay to 1536-well format to minimise the costs and we will test up to 300,000 small-molecules in a single-point primary screen. Initial hits will be further assessed with a 5- or 10-point dose-response assay and an appropriate counter-screen.

The chemical structures and the activity of the hits will be shared with you in the final report, together with vendor information (if available) to assist you in sourcing the compounds. You will have full ownership rights to new intellectual property generated from the screening results of your subsidised screen, but a 5% revenue share of any net commercial returns will be required.

To be considered for a subsidised screen, you will need to have a developed assay that meets the criteria detailed in the assay readiness requirements guide.

For example, your assay needs to be demonstrated in 96-well format and satisfy other criteria, such as minimum robustness, signal-to-background and component-stability requirements.

It is also essential that you or someone in your lab has hands-on experience in running the assay so you can successfully transfer it to us.

A fixed number of highly-subsidised screens is offered to the Australian medical research community, thanks to the generous support of our funding partners. These very highly subsidised screens are only available to Australian academic partners and Australian small- and medium-sized enterprises who meet certain eligibility criteria. 

As an indicative guide, successful applicants should expect charges of around $45,000 for a 300,000-compound screen, provided the NDDC is able to miniaturise the assay to 1536-well format. Half of this fee would be payable upfront, with the balance upon receipt of the final report. 

Smaller screens may also be possible, although the cost per compound will be higher. Screens that need to be run in 384-well format are also generally more expensive on a per-compound basis. 

Pricing for other projects (including international partners and non‑eligible organisations) is determined by the work required. Please contact us to discuss your goals and obtain an estimate. 

Access to a subsidised screen follows a submission process designed to select the most promising research projects in Australia.

To apply, you will need to:

1. Meet the assay readiness requirements
2. Complete a mutual confidentiality agreement
3. Request a login to our secure application portal
4. Complete an online application form available on our secure application portal

Proposals are assessed according to their scientific quality and rationale, feasibility and innovation. 

Our activities are overseen by the Independent National Selection Committee – a panel made up of experts in biological sciences, translational biology and drug discovery, assembled from Australian and international research organisations. 

The Committee is responsible for selecting the most promising project applications, with the aim of translating Australian medical research discoveries into new treatments for human disease. 

Yes. Unsuccessful applicants will receive written feedback and are often encouraged to re-apply in subsequent rounds once any identified shortcomings have been addressed. We encourage you to discuss your application with us before resubmission. 

Yes. There are currently no restrictions on submitting more than one application.

In most rounds, up to three applications will be selected for a subsidised screen.

Cut-off dates for application rounds will be published on our website.

To be kept informed of key dates and information join our mailing list using the form at the bottom of this page.

Yes. Prospective applicants are highly encouraged to contact us to discuss your drug target or screening assay, or if you have other questions about your application.

No. The NDDC offers high-quality curated diversity libraries, with more than 250,000 compounds robotically accessible and stored under controlled environmental conditions onsite. Expanded library options can be provided through Compounds Australia, a leading specialist compound storage facility based at Griffith University. 

Yes. Before you share any confidential information, please download and complete the mutual confidentiality agreement form.

Any new intellectual property arising from the hit list is owned by the applicant, subject to a Service Terms contract.  

If the screening campaign is successful in generating active hits, the applicant will receive a list of the most active structures via secure file transfer. 

Applicants are then free to pursue further development as they choose. Under our standard terms, a dilutable 5% contribution of your net commercial returns is required, which supports the sustainability of the subsidy program. 

Once your Discovery Access application has been accepted, we coordinate assay transfer, reproducing your data and systematically optimising, miniaturising and automating the assay. 

The assay is then validated in a pilot screen of approximately 10,000 compounds run in duplicate. On successful validation, a full screen of up to 300,000 small molecules (single point) is undertaken. Hits are triaged based on their activity, with technology artefacts minimised by use of a counter-screen assay.  

For projects that include virtual screening, up to 5 million compounds will be assessed against your target at the Bio21 Institute while the single-point physical screen is in progress at the NDDC. After clustering and diversity selection, the top-ranked hits will be purchased and prepared for testing in the physical assay.  

Hits from the single-point primary screen and the virtual screen will then be tested in 5- or 10-point dose–response experiments, enabling us to provide you with EC50s of the most promising hit compounds. 

We will liaise closely with you to ensure the smooth transfer of your assay to our facility.

The subsidy is offered specifically for the high-throughput screening stage of the project, and is aimed at supporting innovative translational research. For this reason, it is essential that you already have hands-on experience in running the assay.

Once in the NDDC, your assay will be miniaturised if possible and adapted to a format suitable for high-throughput screening.

You will receive regular updates on progress of the screening campaign. After the screen is complete, you will receive data and a final report.

The final report will include: 

• detailed standard operating procedures for the optimised primary and counter-screen assays 
• a description of the virtual screening procedure, if applicable 
• global statistics on the performance of the screening campaign 
• documentation of the activity thresholds and filtering criteria applied to triage hits 
• the chemical structure, commercial sourcing information (supplier and catalogue ID where available), and EC50s of the hits in both primary and counter-screens