High Throughput Screening: Enables Automated Assays of Biological or Biochemical Activity of Compounds Similar to Drugs

High Throughput Screening (HTS) refers to a scientific experimentation method used in the process of drug discovery. HTS enables automated assays of biological or biochemical activity of compounds similar to drugs. These assays facilitate discovery of enzymes, ligands for receptors and other pharmacological tests. In addition this process aids in rapid identification of antibodies, genes or active compounds that are responsible for alteration of a specific biomolecular pathway. Presently, the HTS industry is expected to reduce the costs involved in drug discovery process and release the potential lead compounds resultant from screening campaigns. This expectation led HTS industry to adopt smarter screening procedures by screening only focused and potential compounds along with the use of highly efficient instrumentation platforms. 

The HTS industry poses a competitive environment, with regular technology transfers and information sharing between the market rivals. With the increasing competition between the pharma companies to pioneer the drug commercialization, the need for HTS increases simultaneously, as this reduces the overall time required for commercializing the drug molecules. HTS market promises affirmative growth potential in near future due to its inevitable use in the research and production fields and can be segmented by technology, applications and geography. Some of the technological advances in the HTS industry attribute to introduction of high content screening technologies, miniaturization of the HTS technological platforms and novel cell culture approaches. 

The major factors positively impacting the growth of the market accounts for continuous HTS technological upgradations, rigorous research and development initiatives, increase in investments by the drug discovery firms and focus on development of robust hardware and software used in screening. On the other hand increasing demand for highly efficient biochemical assays, need for cost effective solutions and negative impacts of economic slowdown on HTS outsourcing might hamper the growth of HTS market. Some of the major players competing in this market are Agilent Technologies, Inc., Aurora Biomed, Inc., Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Life Technologies Corporation, Luminex Corporation, Beckman Coulter, Inc., and Roche Applied Sciences.