Horgen ZH/San Francisco – Navignostics, a spin-off of the University of Zurich, will now utilize the imaging system of San Francisco-based company Standard BioTools to develop personalized cancer therapies. Together, both aim to advance imaging mass cytometry.
Navignostics from Horgen and the North American company Standard BioTools aim to jointly facilitate access to Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC) in pharmaceutical and clinical research in the future. Navignostics specializes in personalized diagnostics for cancer patients, specifically focusing on spatial single-cell proteomics. This enables the identification of the optimal treatment for the tumor of individual patients.
"Our ability to automate and standardize this process with IMC has actually given us the boost to get to where we are now," said Jana Fischer, CEO of the spin-off from the University of Zurich (UZH) founded in 2022, in a press release. Your company has its roots in the Bodenmiller Lab at UZH, which developed spatial single-cell proteomics. This involves measuring a large number of proteins in a tumor sample with spatial resolution. This allows the determination, with algorithms, of which cell types are present, which processes are deregulated in these cells, and how tumor cells influence other cells in the tumor microenvironment.
To further automate, rapidly capture data, and enhance system stability, the imaging system from Standard BioTools called Hyperion XTi is expected to contribute. The "exciting partnership" between Navignostics and Standard BioTools, according to its CEO Michael Egholm, aims to "elevate imaging mass cytometry to the forefront of clinical research by generating data quality that can be translated into tangible results". Together, the two companies want to further improve the system. ce/mm