A novel compact mass detection platform for the open access (OA) environment in drug discovery and early development

• Published in: Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis 2016-04, Vol.122, p.1-8
• Main Authors: Gao, Junling, Ceglia, Scott S., Jones, Michael D., Simeone, Jennifer, Antwerp, John Van, Zhang, Li-Kang, Ross, Charles W., Helmy, Roy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - instrumentation; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid - methods; Compact mass detector; Development; Drug discovery; Drug Discovery - instrumentation; Drug Discovery - methods; Mass Spectrometry - instrumentation; Mass Spectrometry - methods; Open-access; Process; Reproducibility of Results; UPLC-MS
• ISSN: 0731-7085; 1873-264X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2016.01.017

[Display omitted] •The compact mass detector has proven to be a valuable and reliable mass detection and compound confirmation tool for the open access (OA) environment in the pharmaceutical discovery and development space.•The benefits of the compact mass detector for use in a wide variety of OA applications including standard small molecule analysis, HTS and QC type analyses, as well as biological samples and quantitation studies were demonstrated.•Mass data generated with the compact mass detector were comparable to conventional mass spectrometer data for a multitude of samples run in the OA environment. A new ‘compact mass detector’ co-developed with an instrument manufacturer (Waters Corporation) as an interface for liquid chromatography (LC), specifically Ultra-high performance LC® (UPLC® or UHPLC) analysis was evaluated as a potential new Open Access (OA) LC–MS platform in the Drug Discovery and Early Development space. This new compact mass detector based platform was envisioned to provide increased reliability and speed while exhibiting significant cost, noise, and footprint reductions. The new detector was evaluated in batch mode (typically 1–3 samples per run) to monitor reactions and check purity, as well as in High Throughput Screening (HTS) mode to run 24, 48, and 96 well plates. The latter workflows focused on screening catalysis conditions, process optimization, and library work. The objective of this investigation was to assess the performance, reliability, and flexibility of the compact mass detector in the OA setting for a variety of applications. The compact mass detector results were compared to those obtained by current OA LC–MS systems, and the capabilities and benefits of the compact mass detector in the open access setting for chemists in the drug discovery and development space are demonstrated.