SPT Labtech and BellBrook Labs have introduced a miniaturised high-throughput screening platform designed to accelerate the discovery of VPS4B ATPase inhibitors, a target emerging as significant in oncology drug development.

The collaboration brings together BellBrook Labs’ Transcreener ADP2 fluorescence polarisation assay with SPT Labtech’s dragonfly discovery automated liquid handling system. The integrated workflow has been developed to address a long-standing technical barrier in screening for inhibitors of Vacuolar protein sorting associated protein 4B (VPS4B), an ATPase implicated in tumour biology.

VPS4B has gained attention in cancer research due to its overexpression in certain tumour types and its synthetic-lethal relationship with its paralog, VPS4A. This relationship has positioned VPS4B as a potential therapeutic target, particularly in tumours where VPS4A function is compromised. However, identifying selective and potent VPS4B inhibitors has been limited by the lack of scalable, robust screening assays suitable for high-throughput formats.

According to the companies, the new platform enables screening in both 384- and 1536-well plate formats. The Transcreener ADP2 assay provides direct, homogeneous detection of ADP, allowing ATPase activity to be measured with high sensitivity. Combined with the automated reagent dispensing capabilities of the dragonfly discovery system, the workflow is designed to improve reproducibility while reducing reagent consumption compared with manual methods.

Data generated using the platform led to the identification of 13 novel VPS4B inhibitors. These hits can be further profiled using SPT Labtech’s mosquito liquid handling platform for follow-up validation and secondary assays.

Justin Brink, president of BellBrook Labs, said: “Our collaboration with SPT Labtech is a response to the industry’s need for smarter, more resource-efficient drug discovery. Through a combination of our Transcreener technology with the precision of the dragonfly discovery platform, we have significantly lowered the barriers to VPS4B screening, allowing researchers to dramatically reduce reagent consumption while maintaining the high Z’ values and data sensitivity required for reliable hit identification. It’s a game-changer for any biotech or pharma team targeting these complex ATPases.”

His comments underline the positioning of the announcement: while the companies present new technical data, the timing alongside SLAS 2026 and the emphasis on exhibition booths suggests a strong commercial element. The workflow and data will be highlighted at SLAS 2026 in Boston, where the companies will present a poster detailing the identification of the 13 inhibitors.

Joby Jenkins, chief technology officer at SPT Labtech, said: “Building on 25 years of positive displacement technology, we are supporting our customers to achieve faster, more efficient liquid handling, laying the foundation for the next generation of laboratory automation. Our latest collaboration with BellBrook Labs demonstrates the power of combining industry-leading assay chemistry with world-class liquid handling. By miniaturizing the VPS4B assay without compromising data quality, we are providing Pharma and Biotech companies with a truly scalable path toward new cancer therapeutics.”

While the language reflects clear commercial intent, the technical advance addresses a defined gap in early-stage oncology research, namely the ability to screen ATPase targets such as VPS4B at scale with reliable assay performance. If reproducible across multiple laboratories, the platform could support broader efforts to exploit synthetic-lethal vulnerabilities in cancer.