BennuBio Whitepaper
High Throughput Analysis of Spheroid Killing via the Velocyt® Flow Cytometer
The clinical failure rates in the pharmaceutical industry are approximately 90% and this rate has remained steady since 2010. While there are several reasons for the low success rates of biologics and small molecule drugs, lack of efficacy for the particular indication has recently emerged as the major reason for drug development failure. To help overcome these challenges, there is a concerted effort to develop and optimize relevant advanced cell models that are more predictive of in vivo efficacy and to apply those models earlier in the drug discovery workflow. Multicellular three-dimensional (3D) tumor spheroids are advanced models which more faithfully mimic the physiological milieu than traditional monolayer cultures and bridges in vitro and in vivo studies. While 3D cultures are a promising tool for screening and efficacy evaluation, one of the major challenges is the inability to generate and analyze large number of spheroids using a simplified workflow.
Velocyt Large Particle Flow Cytometer
Flow cytometry has long been the standard for many forms of cellular analysis. However, traditional flow cytometry only analyzes one cell stream at an analysis rate of <50K particles/sec and a sample volumetric rate of <250 μL/min. This limitation makes traditional flow cytometers poorly suited for rare cell analysis in high cellular backgrounds, detection of cells/particles in large dilute samples, or rapid analysis of diluted blood samples. In addition, traditional flow cytometers cannot perform analysis of spheroid and organoid models critical to immunology and oncology research, drug screening and clinical applications in oncology, transplantation and artificial organs.