The subject of this proposal is the design, construction, evaluation, and production of a new instrument for the automated, parallel solid-phase or fluorous-phase synthesis of 768 compounds, which addresses an ongoing need for new compounds for the drug discovery process. The principal advantage of this instrument, which sets it apart from currently available synthesizers, is a novel technology for the separation of the solid support from reagent and wash solutions by centrifugation. In this instrument, compounds will be synthesized in the wells of microtiter plates in a centrifuge. The plates are slightly tilted towards the center of centrifugation, thus forming pockets in each well during centrifugation, in which the solid support (or lower liquid phase in multiphase systems) is collected, while the liquid is expelled from the wells. This process is mechanically simpler and more efficient compared to currently used technologies, thus enabling the manufacture of more robust, flexible, yet less expensive instruments. The technology of tilted centrifugation can also be applied for solid phase extraction, liquid-liquid extraction, and plate washing in bioassays. The commercialization efforts of the family of centrifugation based instruments will include the manufacture of a pilot series, which will be tested at multiple beta-sites.
The Spyder Instruments tilted plate bioprocessor will expedite many rate- limiting tasks vital to biotechnology, and to pharmaceutical research and development. The current market for such instrumentation is estimated to total $50,000,000 per annum; including automated assays, extraction instrumentation and synthesis of combinatorial libraries and compound arrays. Leading competitors are Argonaut, Advanced ChemTech, Bohdan Automation, Tecan, Rapp Polymere. Spyder Instruments expects to capture 10% of this market within 2 years following successful conclusion of SBIR Phase II period.
