Compound test resources has always been a bottleneck in the development of screening programs in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. Prior to 1993 it was customary for companies, big and small, to rely on their archival libraries and the purchase of compound samples from vendors that served as middlemen in the accumulation of diverse synthetic compounds from a myriad of sources worldwide. Problems arose, however, when a "start-up" discovery company attempted to establish a useful library of 10,000 to 50,000 compounds as a core screening resource. With minimum sample purchases (~50 milligrams) at $50 per compound, such companies soon discovered that a significant amount of their start-up capital was consumed in accessing this critical resource.

In 1993, MicroSource Discovery Systems, Inc.(MDSI) pioneered the provision of test compounds in microplate format. This approach provided efficiency, economy and diversity in a single product. The cost of acquisition was cut by as much as 90%. Diversity was drawn from world leaders in chemical synthesis, and samples were provided in a format that avoided handling, documentation and storage. Today, MDSI has evolved into a leading provider of diverse synthetic compounds, natural products and drug standards ... all in microplate formats.

The Principals contacts at MDSI are:
• Dr. John P Devlin: President & CEO
• Toni Kobylinsky: Director, New Product Devlopment
• Andrew Devlin: Graphics Design and Homepage Management
• Dr. Peter Watkins: Data Management
• Rachel Webster: Laboratory Manager