High-throughput and in silico screenings in drug discovery

In the current situation of weak drug pipelines, impending patent expiration of several blockbuster drugs, industry consolidation and changing business models that target special diseases like cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and obesity, the pharmaceutical industry is under intense pressure to generate a strong drug pipeline distinguished by better productivity, diversity and cost effectiveness. The goal is discovering high-quality leads in the initial stages of the development cycle, to minimize the costs associated with failures at later ones.

Thus, there is a great amount of interest in further developing and optimizing high-throughput screening and in silico screening, the two methods responsible for generating most of the lead compounds. Although high-throughput screening is the predominant starting point for discovery programs, in silico methods have gradually made inroads by their more rational approach, to expedite the drug discovery and development process.

Modern drug discovery strategies include both methods in tandem or in an iterative way. This review primarily provides a succinct overview and comparison of experimental and in silico screening techniques, selected case studies where both methods were used in concert to investigate their performance and complementary nature and a statement on the developments in experimental and in silico approaches in the near future.