Expert view: Where are you seeing changes in the flow cytometry market?

As an example, in the field of oncology, the focus has shifted to a novel class of biologics and cell therapies that modulate immune cell function. This change in therapeutic approach and model complexity requires tools that assess multiple cell parameters to better understand the cellular mechanisms or synergistic effects of combinatorial drug treatments earlier in the discovery process. Furthermore, severe constraints on essential primary cells drive the desire to miniaturise assays and compress analysis workflows.

Flow cytometry is a powerful, widespread and flexible technology that delivers high-content information from single cells and particles. However, the limited throughput, slow sampling speeds and large sample volume requirements of traditional flow cytometry technologies present barriers for the drug discovery industry. As such, flow cytometry technologies need to deliver  high-throughput content in a miniaturised format and to analyse and visualise the large datasets generated during drug development studies.

The iQue^® 3 advanced flow cytometry platform from Sartorius, for example, is purpose built for rapid microplate sampling and plate-based data management. This automation-friendly platform performs high-throughput, miniaturised assays assessing immuno-phenotyping, cell health, killing potential and bead-based cytokine profiling in a single well of a 96- or 384-well microtiter plate. The integrated iQue^® Forecyt^® software delivers real-time, plate-based data analysis and visualisation of results providing actionable answers in minutes per plate, not hours or days.

As the market trends towards more complex and physiologically relevant cell-based assays for drug discovery, the advancement of technologies and tools that analyse large numbers of samples and complex datasets is critical for the development of the next generation of therapies.