A practical approach to automate randomized design of experiments for ligand-binding assays

Background: Designof experiments(DOE) is utilized in optimizing ligand-binding assayby modeling factor effects. To reduce the analyst’s workload and error inherent with DOE, we propose the integration of automated liquid handlers to perform the randomized designs. Results: A randomized design created from statistical software was imported into custom macro converting the design into a liquid-handler worklist to automate reagent delivery. An optimized assaywas transferred to a contract research organizationresulting in a successful validation. Conclusion: We developed a practical solution for assayoptimization by integrating DOE and automation to increase assayrobustness and enable successful method transfer. The flexibility of this process allows it to be applied to a variety of assaydesigns.