High-throughput screening assays for novel antibacterial identification: current advances and future prospects

High-throughput screening (HTS) has been central to antibacterial drug discovery for decades, identifying active compounds from large libraries. Advances in screening methodologies and compound availability have extended HTS from large organizations to smaller biotech and academic groups. Despite increased screening, the antibacterial pipeline remains insufficient to address growing antibiotic resistance, partly because screening conditions poorly replicate true infective environments.

This review summarizes HTS applications for novel antibacterial discovery, outlining standard techniques and practical limitations, highlighting emerging in vivo and intermediate-throughput in vitro methods developed to better reflect infection conditions. References were collected using PubMed and Google Scholar searches covering antibacterial HTS methodologies, focusing on the last 15 years but including earlier seminal publications where appropriate.

Antibacterial HTS traditionally relies on standard growth inhibition assays using reference isolates grown in nutrient-rich media. Although their outcome is informative, these conditions may not represent disease environments accurately enough to provide drug candidates with a high likelihood for translational success.