Two weeks ago, the Cellix team travelled to Prague to participate in Cyto 2018, a conference discussing the cutting edge of flow cytometry research.
In the final of a 4 part series, we are discussing the comments of industry leaders at the conference, and companies to watch in this space.
Over the course of Cyto 2018, I met with some of the people at the forefront of the field, and particularly at the forefront of the gene therapy application of flow cytometry. Here's what I learned from them:
Industry insights: BioRad's Brandon Williams
Brandon has 10 years of experience in the life science research industry, and as a global product manager in flow cytometry is extremely in tune with the needs and trends in the industry - his comments were extremely constructive and helpful.
What I took from my talk with Brandon about the field was; that methods of improving transfection efficacy is what is currently desirable in industry, particularly in primary cell types. Another trend he forecasts is the integration of technologies allowing for more streamlined workflows - this is particularly desirable in a clinical setting.
Improving transfection efficacy is something Cellix has been aware of for some time; in fact our own Inish Analyser technology aims to provide researchers with much needed data about cell membrane states after electroporation, and allow a sort decision based on this.
Brandon is responsible for transfection portfolios at BioRad, and so has an informed perspective on where the integration of technologies may lead. If trends and demands from Cyto were extrapolated, would ultimately lead to a fully integrated device capable of electroporation, transfecting, measuring viability, analysing and expanding, probably in a closed loop system.
Ones to Watch: Eva Camarillio of Orbsen Therapeutics
Another Irish company attending the conference were Orbsen Therapeutics, a Galway-based company working on therapeutic challenges such as diabetic foot ulcers and kidney disease, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and primary scleroscing Cholangitis (PSC).
I spoke to Eva Camarillo from Orbsen about their work delivering high purified stromal cells, and got a great insight from her about what it's like to work in human therapeutics. It's great to see companies taking the opportunity to use these applied aspects of flow cytometry in their work and really pushing the field forward. Orbsen are definitely on our list of companies to watch in the nest few years.
That's all from me on our Cyto 2018 posts.
Thanks for reading, and if you missed any other Cyto 2018 posts you can find them below: