High-throughput screening is a process in which hundreds or thousands of compounds are simultaneously tested for their ability to interact with a target. The screening system is called a bioassay. Compounds that bind to the target on initial screens will then undergo additional, more intensive screening, in order to assess their potential as novel medicines for the treatment of disease. Typically, between 100,000 to two million compounds will be screened to identify the handful that may constitute lead candidates which move on through drug development.

Pharmacom is developing molecular profiling systems for screening the target against libraries of chemical compounds to find those that will interact with the target and that demonstrate the potential to become effective drugs.

The systems can be also designed for screening very large numbers of drug candidates. These automated, flexible systems offer biopharmaceutical companies significant savings in the time and cost needed to discover new drugs.