BennuBio Chief Science Officer Dr. James Freyer/Courtesy photo
SCIENCE NEWS
Editor’s Note: Dr. James Freyer is a long-time member of the Pajarito Mountain Ski Patrol.
BennuBio was awarded an NIH (National Institute of Health) SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) grant that will advance the Company’s development of a novel analytic tool for 3D tissue models. Mimicking natural cellular activities, 3D tissue models—called spheroids—play an increasingly critical role in cancer research and drug screening and reduce the need for animals in tumor research. The Phase II grant was funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
Currently, there are no analytical instruments that can rapidly, and non-destructively, measure optical parameters and the internal structure of spheroids. BennuBio’s High-Throughput Spheroid Screening Platform (HTSSP) will change that, addressing a growing need in biomedical research for identifying the biological characteristics of tumor cells and drug penetration.
Using Bennubio’s proven acoustic focusing technology, coupled with camera-based optical detection, the new analytical instrument is both optimized for spheroid analysis and preventing damage to cellular structures so they can be reanalyzed multiple times.
BennuBio’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. James Freyer stated, “The HTSSP represents a significant technological advancement in pharmaceutical screening. It will be the first truly high throughput approach to the study of pharmaceutical interactions in a 3D tissue model. One of BennuBio’s goals with this grant is rapid commercialization that will make this valuable technology available to as many researchers as possible.”
BennuBio is an Albuquerque, New Mexico based biotechnology company focused on developing innovative cell analysis instruments for biomedical and pharmaceutical research.
