SHANGHAI, May 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 20, 2026, Viva Biotech hosted a V-Experts in Conversation webinar, "Managing Complexity in Modern Drug Discovery: A Practical Approach to Integrated Screening & Chemistry." Moderated by Victoria Ouroutzoglou, the roundtable featured Dr. Bing Xia, Vice President & Head of Early Discovery Platforms, and Dr. Tim Dwight, Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry & Business Development.

The discussion focused on how teams can make informed decisions when target biology, assay readiness, chemical tractability, and development requirements evolve in parallel. The speakers discussed how an integrated screening and medicinal chemistry workflow can support decision-making from hit identification through lead optimization.

Dr. Xia emphasized that hit identification is highly target-dependent. Strategy selection should begin with target context, including biological validation, tractability, assay readiness, structural information, protein availability, resource constraints, and the IP and competitive landscape. Depending on the target, fragment-based drug discovery, virtual screening, HTS, DEL, ASMS, or SPR may each provide suitable entry points.

The webinar also highlighted V-DEL-facilitated target triage as one of Viva Biotech's practical approaches for early target and modality assessment. By integrating DEL screening outcomes, protein science expertise, protein QC and conformational-state assessment, and an AI-powered V-DEL Friendly Index, this approach can help assess ligandability, rank targets or constructs, prioritize resources, and inform suitable modality directions.

The speakers noted that primary screening readouts are only the starting point. To advance a hit with confidence, teams need layered validation, including purity and liability checks, dose-response confirmation, orthogonal assays, selectivity and counter-screening, cytotoxicity assessment, and biophysical binding studies. Viva Biotech's internal "promiscuous frequent hits" dataset also supports informed triage and helps reduce the risk of advancing misleading hits.

From the medicinal chemistry perspective, Dr. Dwight emphasized that design–make–test–analyze cycles require clear hypotheses and close coordination across medicinal chemistry, AIDD/CADD, biology, DMPK, and project teams. Structure-based design, SAR analysis, FEP, MD simulations, ADMET prediction, and AI/ML-supported modeling can all contribute to focused compound prioritization.

The discussion reinforced that integration is less about placing capabilities under one roof, and more about connecting the right data, expertise, and decision points, including go/no-go criteria. Through integrated protein science, structural biology, screening, medicinal chemistry, AIDD/CADD, biology, and DMPK, Viva Biotech supports a continuous discovery workflow from target understanding to validated hits and lead optimization with greater rigor, efficiency, and scientific discipline.