Chemical processes need to get bigger. As little as 2 mg is enough to test potency in primary assays and a few more will get you tier 1 DMPK such as LogD, aqueous solubility, PAMPA and microsomal stability. Upon these foundations of shifting sand, a compound can rapidly go from an idea to a lead compound on the fast track to the clinic, where the demands come in kilograms not milligrams. As we scale up, new challenges present themselves to the Chemists involved.
