National Drug Discovery Centre

The National Drug Discovery Centre features the latest in robotic high-throughput screening technologies with a highly modular system that can be customised according to project needs. The NDDC is staffed by a specialised team with deep industry and academic experience, providing end-to-end support from assay development through to hit identification. 

Equipped with three ultra-high throughput robotic platforms, the centre supports large-scale, reproducible testing of dozens to millions of compounds across a wide range of configurable formats to meet project needs.  

The National Drug Discovery Centre is a state-of-the-art research facility that performs small‑molecule screening for academic, biotechnology and pharmaceutical partners. We support projects of all sizes – from assay development or hit‑to‑lead support, through to ultra‑high‑throughput screening of more than 1 million compounds.

• For academic labs, biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical partners – both Australian and international.
• Biochemical and cell-based assays.
• From assay development through to his discovery and early lead optimisation.

Our platforms are highly configurable and our readers can be docked to collaborative robotic systems or used independently. 

• High-content imaging: PerkinElmer Opera Phenix confocal imaging system with high-throughput by simultaneous acquisition 
• Multi-mode microplate reader: BMG PHERAstar FSX 
• Automated FACS: Intellicyt iQue Screener PLUS automated flow cytometry for phenotypic screens 
• Whole-plate fluorometric imaging: FLIPR Penta high-throughput cellular screening system 
• Acoustic ejection mass spectrometry: SCIEX Echo MS System 

We offer users access to diverse screening collections of more than 600,000 high-quality and lead-like small molecules. More than a quarter of a million compounds are managed on-site in humidity-controlled automated storage. 

We also welcome projects that use investigator-supplied libraries or alternative sourced collections. 

We can screen for a very large diversity of target classes. We can advise on suitable assay technologies or develop a protocol that is suitable for high throughput screening. Users provide their own assay protocol and specific materials, such as cell lines or proteins. If your assay has already been demonstrated in 96-well format and meets minimum robustness, signal-to-background and component-stability requirements, our expert staff will miniaturise and adapt it to run on our high-throughput platform.