High-throughput multiplexed capillary electrophoresis in drug discovery

The demand for high-throughput analytical tools to support drug discovery applications has led to the development of multiplexed capillary electrophoresis and multichannel microfluidic devices to characterize libraries of compounds and alleviate backlogs in the discovery process. The capability to analyze multiple samples in parallel, and the diverse separation conditions that are permissible, facilitates rapid turnaround times. Examples of high-throughput applications of multiplexed electrophoresis in drug discovery include: physicochemical profiling, enzyme analysis, chiral separations and protein/metabolite analysis. Many single capillary electrophoresis methods can be potentially adapted to a multiplexed format, therefore, we anticipate the development of other high-throughput applications in the near future, which should facilitate decreases in sample analysis time and help improve laboratory efficiency. This review focuses on recent developments relating to multiplexed capillary electrophoresis and multichannel microfluidic electrophoresis devices for performing high throughput drug discovery and development applications.