Curiox Biosystems Joins NIST Flow Cytometry Standards Consortium

The collaboration will support standardization efforts in live cell analysis to improve and accelerate the development of next-generation therapies, vaccines, and biomanufacturing

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Curiox Biosystems

Sep 29, 2021, 09:17 ET

WOBURN, Mass., Sept. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Curiox Biosystems, Inc., the global leader in biological sample preparation automation, announced today its membership in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Flow Cytometry Standards Consortium to support the development of automation solutions and protocols for cell and nuclei characterization.

To learn more, visit the Curiox website.

Flow cytometry is an established methodology for measuring cellular, physical and biochemical properties and is universally employed in research labs worldwide. While innovative methods and instruments have exploded recently, the preparation of cell suspensions for analysis represents a crucial area that relies on archaic methods like manual handling and centrifugation, which are prone to variability and viable cell loss.

According to NIST, the Flow Cytometry Standards Consortium was launched in December 2020 "to accelerate the adoption of quantitative flow cytometry in biomanufacturing of cell and gene therapies." Technical Lead and NIST Senior Scientist Lili Wang, Ph.D. described the consortium's mission in a recent Photonics article as, "[providing] a neutral forum for stakeholders in the biotechnology and health care sectors to identify and address common measurement challenges, exchange ideas, and jointly accelerate the development of standards and reference materials for quantitative flow cytometry."

In support of the Consortium's mission, Curiox will contribute its expertise and fully turnkey sample prep automation solution, the Laminar Wash AUTO1000 system to facilitate the adoption of universal flow cytometry methodology. Additionally, Curiox Vice President David Choiniere will serve on the Consortium Steering Committee overseeing research activities and progress, with the goal of publishing collective results.

"Flow cytometry is a critical tool at all stages of cell and gene therapy development, from discovery to scale-up and manufacturing, "said Curiox CEO Namyong Kim, Ph.D. ," "We built the AUTO1000 so researchers can focus on science and not automation, which we believe will strongly support the NIST Consortium's commitment to standardization."

As part of the Consortium, Curiox hopes to address challenges in flow cytometry faced by the biomanufacturing community, notably reproducibility, comparability, and accurate quantitation. Curiox and NIST scientists will collaboratively develop automated sample preparation protocols to characterize common immunotherapy cell types, as well as utilize critical reagents and additional measurement capabilities beyond flow cytometry. "We are looking forward to working with our consortium member organizations including Curiox to automate our flow cytometry assays," Dr. Wang said. *

About Curiox Biosystems, Inc.

Next-generation therapies deserve next-generation sample prep solutions. Curiox has brought together surface chemistry and instrumentation expertise to overcome critical challenges slowing the pace of life-science research. By focusing on common assay steps and workflows where miniaturization and automation are currently underutilized, the company has developed innovative technologies that simultaneously improve both productivity and data quality, accelerating the pace of therapeutic development.

*NIST does not evaluate commercial products under this Consortium and does not endorse any product or service used.

Contact:
Megan Kipp
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SOURCE Curiox Biosystems