With a globally ageing population, there is an urgent need for drugs to treat or prevent chronic age-related diseases, making faster drug discovery critical. Increasing the number of compounds screened significantly enhances the chances of finding interventions to slow ageing or prevent such diseases. Magnitude Biosciences is a leading contract research organisation (CRO) based in Sedgefield, County Durham. It is the UK's sole organisation specialised in using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a model organism with significant physiological similarities to humans despite its short 2--3 week lifespan. For decades, researchers have used C. elegans to study human diseases and ageing processes. Its conserved neuronal signalling pathways make it particularly valuable for investigating neurodegenerative diseases. Magnitude Biosciences uses C. elegans to offer research services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, to evaluate compound efficacy and mechanisms of action. Traditional cellular assays often fail to predict safety and efficacy accurately, leading to high attrition rates in preclinical and clinical studies. Magnitude Biosciences' patented imaging technology, WormGazer, generates extensive healthspan data from C. elegans on agar plates in just 7 days, processing a petabyte of data weekly for tens of compounds. This method is faster, cheaper, and reduces reliance on rodent models. Client demand also calls for the ability to screen larger compound libraries at lower costs, even if it means sacrificing detailed functional endpoint data. To address this, Magnitude Biosciences industrial research project aims to use digital innovation to further develop our patented WormGazer technology into a high-throughput screening (HTS) platform capable of analyzing thousands of compounds weekly. By integrating advanced robotics, liquid culture design, and machine learning, the system will significantly enhance speed, scalability, and precision for early drug discovery and provide an additional revenue stream for the business. Key advancements include automating worm dispensing and plate handling with robotics to ensure precision, optimizing liquid culture plates for data quality, and employing machine learning to analyze vast datasets, extracting health and longevity metrics. These innovations will allow pharmaceutical companies to screen larger libraries efficiently, accelerating drug discovery and improving clinical trial success rates. This project not only advances drug discovery but also fosters growth for Magnitude Biosciences, creates high-skilled jobs, and strengthens the North East as a global hub for advanced drug discovery and digital technology innovation.

Magnitude Biosciences is a contract research organisation based in Sedgefield, County Durham. It is a world leader in providing research services using the tiny nematode worm called _Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans)_ and the only one in based in the UK. This worm has physiological similarities to humans and a very short lifespan (2-3 weeks). It has been used successfully by researchers for over 40 years to help us understand human diseases and the ageing process. However, its use to identify potentially beneficial medicines or supplements to slow ageing or prevent chronic diseases like dementia has not been well exploited. Magnitude Biosciences uses _C. elegans_ to provide research services for the emerging longevity industry to determine the effects of compounds on ageing. Companies in this industry want to be able to determine the effects of their compounds on ageing quickly and there are very few alternative ways to achieve this goal. The innovative imaging technology developed by Magnitude Biosciences allows ageing in _C. elegans_ to be assessed in 7 days. Using _C. elegans_ is significantly faster and cheaper than conducting pre-clinical studies in other animals and reduces the number of rodents that would otherwise be used.However, many customers have informed the company they want to screen many more compounds for a lower price per compound. Achieving this goal requires automation in 3 areas: agar petri dish preparation, seeding bacteria (worm food) and manipulating worms. Equipment that is suitable for this automation is not available commercially. The aim of this project is to develop innovative automation methods that will increase productivity and allow Magnitude Biosciences to serve a larger set of customers around the world. Increasing the number of compounds that can be screened dramatically increases the chances that customers will find interventions that slow ageing or prevent age-related diseases. This will be hugely beneficial for society and the economy. Resulting company growth would increase high-skilled employment in North East England.