High-throughput screening and structure-based approaches to hit discovery: is there a clear winner?

Introduction: There are currently many lead discovery platforms available for drug discovery. Yet, it is often debated whether any of the available platforms are superior or standout to the other vast number of available technologies. Areas covered: The authors comment, in this editorial, on the use and current state of the art of diversity-based high-throughput screening and how this has evolved and been improved from its earliest manifestations. They also describe structure-and computational-based drug discovery strategies and reflect on the differences between these two approaches. Expert opinion: Looking to the future, success in drug discovery is likely to depend on the intelligent deployment of multiple hit identification techniques, appropriate to the drug target, to identify and optimise novel drug leads. The authors' opinion is that there is no clear winner, but that each platform has its own particular strengths and different targets may be more amenable to one platform over another. The authors suggest that the most appropriate platform should be used on a case-by-case basis.