People + Technology = Better Decisions
Make no mistake, we’re big fans of technology. We’ve evolved our drug discovery approach over time, incorporating, for example, computer-based modeling, high-throughput screening (HTS), functional genomics and automation. But the fundamental question we ask is: how will its application help scientists make a decision that’s different from the one they would have made yesterday? If it doesn’t influence the direction of a project, it’s just fun science.

Building New Technologies
We sometimes invent technologies, too. The E-VIPR (electronic stimulation voltage ion probe reader) is a good example. Ion channels are a group of targets that hold promise for the development of new drugs. But five years ago, there was no way to screen large compound libraries targeting ion channels. This led Vertex to develop E-VIPR, a proprietary technology that combines electrical stimulation of cells with fluorescence detection of ion channel activity. A quantum leap in ion channel drug discovery, E-VIPR enables scientists to quickly sift through tens of thousands of compounds to find the most promising candidate molecules. This is significantly faster than a previous standard technique that assessed one compound at a time.
›Learn more about E-VIPR

Another example of a Vertex-invented technology is virtual screening. What if it were possible to devise a computer algorithm that could identify, among millions of possible compounds, a handful with the most desirable properties? That’s what Vertex’s scientists decided to do, with dramatic results.
›Learn more about virtual screening

Taking New Approaches
In the traditional drug discovery model, biology comes first. A target gets validated, a screen is set up, the hits are found and the chemistry team jumps in. We sometimes turn that around and have the chemists go first, creating chemical probes that help to define the biological relevance of a new target. Or we have them go further, arranging groups of targets according to structure, and then creating prototype molecules that bind to all of them, before the biology of all the targets is known. We find great value in trying different approaches.
› Learn more about new approaches to drug discovery