Biospecimens

Nucleai, founded in 2018 and based in Chicago and Tel Aviv, is pioneering new ground in spatial biology. Its AI-powered technology provides crucial context for tumor analysis, moving beyond traditional, static biopsy images to highlight cellular interactions that influence disease progression and treatment response. Innovation, in many cases, happens at the overlap of different domains,…

The bioinformatics startup Culmination Bio had received financial backing from Merck’s venture arm. Now, the Utah-based company is collaborating directly with the pharmaceutical giant on an autoimmune disease research project. According to Culmination Bio‘s CEO Dr. Lincoln Nadauld, the collaboration highlights the value of the startup’s ability to provide rapid access to high-quality longitudinal patient…

The startup Karius aims to help establish a world where infectious disease is no longer a major threat to human health. “It’s an audacious vision,” said Dr. Brad Perkins, chief medical officer at Karius. “But I think it’s commensurate with the platform we’ve developed and continue to evolve.” The Redwood City, California-based company has developed…

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) has launched a line of antibodies specific to cemiplimab (Libtayo). The antibodies inhibit the binding of the drug to its target, human programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1). Hercules, California–based Bio-Rad Lab, said the ready-made antibodies could be used to develop selective and sensitive assays for bioanalysis and drug monitoring of cemiplimab. Cemiplimab,…

Spatial biology specialist Lunaphore (Tolochenaz, Switzerland) recently announced a collaboration with the pathology department at Massachusetts General Hospital to develop an in vitro diagnostic (IVD) that assesses the sensitivity of solid tumors to poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. “Lunaphore is based on a technology that I developed for my Ph.D. at the Swiss Federal Institute…

Digital cell biology firm Berkeley Lights (NSDQ:BLI) has named Dr. Siddhartha Kadia to lead the company. Founded in 2011, Berkeley Lights has developed a platform that supports the rapid functional characterization of single cells. To date, the company has raised $272.6t million in funding over nine rounds, according to Crunchbase. Kadia replaced outgoing CEO Eric…

Privately-held Ambys Medicines has announced that it has opened a 52,000-ft² facility dedicated to hepatocyte manufacturing. The facility is certified to current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) regulations. The company, based in South San Francisco, California, also presented data on its novel bioreactor manufacturing at the Joint Congress of the International Xenotransplantation Association, IXA-CTRMS-2021. Focused on…

Recombinant vector specialist VectorBuilder and Landau Biotechnology, which develops nonhuman primate models for clinical research, have entered into a strategic partnership. The two companies will collaborate on establishing a primate gene therapy R&D center. VectorBuilder is based in Chicago and has facilities in Germany, Japan and China. Landau Biotechnology is headquartered in China. The center…

Live cell shipping specialist Cellbox Solutions GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) has now formally entered the North American market after setting up an office in Rockville, Maryland. The company is the developer of patented Cellbox technology, a transportable CO2 incubator that hit the European market in 2019. The company has also developed packaging compliant with UN3373 standards…

When it comes to using biospecimens for research, the saying “garbage in, garbage out” applies (Compton, 2018). This maxim has been a driving force in biospecimen science: a field in which the focus is pre-analytical factors affecting biospecimen quality. It has also been a driving force in the professionalization of biobanking. As a result, the…