Automating DMPK assays at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In this application note, Hamilton Robotics presents a case study from Vertex Pharmaceuticals' Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK) group. The DMPK team was tasked with evaluating numerous parameters influencing a compound's pharmacokinetic profile, such as metabolic stability, plasma protein binding, intestinal permeability, and drug-drug interactions. To manage the complexity of these methods and the high sample throughput, the DMPK group successfully automated many of its assays using Hamilton's liquid handling systems. The note specifically delves into the automation of the LogD (partition coefficient) assay, highlighting the advantages of this automation approach across various DMPK assays.