Application of Automation in Ligand-Binding Assays

Ligand Binding Assays Development, Validation, and Implementation in the Drug Development Arena. Edited by Masood N. Khan and John W.A. Findlay Copyright 2010 John Wiley Sons, Inc. 

The focus of this chapter is on automating ligand-binding assays in support of clinical and nonclinical studies. This chapter will not specifically address laboratory software systems or LIMS, although many of the tools for implementing laboratory automation can be applied to these systems as well. 

Before beginning the discussion of how to implement an automation project, it is helpful to first look at an example of what can go wrong. This example is all too familiar A laboratory manager decides to increase the use of automation tools. A scientist is asked to automate LBAs. After meeting with several vendors, a system is chosen and purchased with only a vague idea of how it will actually function. The system is very expensive and the vendor seems very responsive, so everyone assumes that they are on the right track. The system is installed in the lab and a couple of lab personnel (whose education, experience, and aptitude are in biochemistry, not in 

Although this is obviously an extreme example, every company has encountered at least one of these obstacles and many first automation projects end up running into many of these roadblocks. The root causes of the above problems can be summarized as follows  

To avoid these problems, an automation project must be planned and executed in an orderly manner. A GLP automation project can be broken down into the following general phases  

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