From a docking score to a real lab report

A docking score is a prediction, not evidence. Once our virtual pipeline flags a candidate as promising against a given target, the next step is real wet-lab validation, and that part doesn't run on a laptop.

Over the past couple of weeks we've been emailing contract research organizations (CROs) directly: describing our candidates (without naming them yet), asking about assay availability, pricing, turnaround time, and sample requirements. Several have already replied with real, itemized quotes covering different assay types: enzyme activity assays, cell-based reporter assays, kinase panels.

A few things surprised us. Minimum order sizes and per-project pricing vary a lot between CROs, even for similar assay types. Compound submission requirements are oddly specific, down to exact powder weight in mg and molecular weight for dilution math. Turnaround time depends as much on our own supplier shipping and customs as on the lab's own queue.

We're now lining up the actual compound sourcing from chemical suppliers so we can ship real samples and get real dose-response data back. Once we have results, we'll share what we can about methodology and findings, real numbers, not projections.

If anyone here has been through the CRO quoting process for a small pre-seed project, curious to hear what surprised you.