Independent technology and product development company TTP plc, Cambridge, UK, is investing $2.2 million to support the formation of a new spinout, Cellular Highways Ltd. The new company has been created to commercialize TTP’s proprietary vortex-actuated cell-sorting (VACS) technology and to fast-track the development of its first commercial product, the Highway 1 benchtop cell-sorting system.
The Highway 1 system is expected to address a major unmet need for improved cell-sorting technology, with applications including development of cell therapies, liquid biopsy diagnostics, and high-throughput drug discovery.
A TTP team led by Salman Samson Rogers, PhD, has been developing the VACS technology over the past 2 years. TTP launched Cellular Highways to exploit the potential of the VACS platform and to develop a new generation of automated high-throughput cell-sorting systems for use in research, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications. Rogers has been appointed as the first CEO of the new company.
The Highway 1 system has been designed to provide an aseptic cell sorter for every lab. To eliminate risks associated with biohazardous aerosols and cross-contamination, input and output fluids are contained entirely in sterile sort microfluidic cartridges, which house the inertial sorter chip.
“Our mission is to make better cell sorting accessible to every laboratory, and to enable therapeutic and diagnostic cell-sorting applications that are ill-served by incumbent products,” says Rogers. “Powered by VACS technology, our instruments will reduce the cost and complexity of cell sorting and will be easy to operate. We are interested in hearing from beta testers, research partners, new colleagues, and anyone with an interest in better cell sorting.”
VACS is the first cell-sorting technology with the demonstrated core performance to translate research to the clinic, enabling high-throughput cell sorting that is sterile, free of cross-contamination, and scalable to therapeutically-relevant batches of cells.
VACS provides an enclosed, sterile cell-sorting chip where cells can be typed according to molecular markers and sorted into separate outputs. Importantly, the technology is multiplexable, enabling high-speed scaling up to large batches of cells (upwards of around a billion) to support the development of cell therapies and diagnostics.
“Investing in new technology and product development is at the heart of what we do at TTP,” says Matthew Carr, head of life sciences at TTP and chairman of Cellular Highways. “The launch of Cellular Highways is a great example of what happens when technically brilliant people come together, working across disciplines in a collaborative and creative environment.”
For further information, visit TTP.
Featured image: Cellular Highways Highway 1 benchtop cell sorter.
