Cytiva and Pear Bio Enhance Cancer Medicine Personalization with Innovative Single-Cell Approaches

September 25, 2024: Cytiva, a global leader in life sciences and bioprocessing, and Pear Bio, company specialising in single-cell analysis technologies, have joined forces to advance personalised cancer treatment through innovative single-cell technology. This collaboration aims to enhance the understanding of cancer at a granular level, enabling more precise and effective therapies tailored to individual patients.

Cytiva's Via Extractor tissue disaggregation technology is being utilised to create dissociated tumour cell suspensions with high viability and yield, revolutionising the analysis of tumour cells. Pear Bio processes these tumour cells alongside matched patient immune cells, culturing them ex vivo in three-dimensional environments to test the effectiveness of FDA-approved therapies across various cancer types.

Over a five-day period, a confocal scanning microscope conducts 3D imaging of the microtumors, while Pear Bio’s proprietary Computer Vision Pipeline analyses the data to generate numerous phenotypic biomarkers that indicate the drug's impact on the microtumors. The quality and viability of the tumour cells in their single-cell suspension are essential for Pear Bio’s downstream workflow, ensuring precise and reliable results.

The trend of utilising 3D models in drug discovery and preclinical testing is transforming biomedical research. Unlike traditional 2D cell cultures, which often fail to accurately replicate the complex structure and microenvironment of human tissues, 3D models provide a more physiologically relevant setting. This leads to improved predictive accuracy regarding drug efficacy and toxicity while reducing reliance on animal testing. By adopting this innovative approach, Pear Bio captures intricate cellular interactions and delivers a more accurate representation of drug behaviour in the human body, ultimately enhancing patient outcomes.

In an official release by Cytiva, Tim Bervoets, President of Discovery & Medical at Cytiva, stated, "This advancement is a significant step forward in the fight against cancer. By leveraging our Via Extractor technology, Pear Bio reaches the cell viability and integrity levels that are essential for their advanced cancer treatment research. Together, we aim to enhance the effectiveness of cancer therapies and improve patient outcomes."

John Curran, Chief Operating Officer & Laboratory Director, Pear Bio, added; "We are thrilled with the performance of Cytiva’s Via Extractor in our workflows. The high cell viability and integrity it provides are critical for our novel cancer medicine analysis, enabling us to achieve more reliable and efficient results."

Pear Bio has incorporated the Via Extractor into its workflows at both UK and US facilities, ensuring consistently high cell viability and continuity in testing. The company is already utilising Via Extractors in its laboratories at both sites. By incorporating the Via Extractor into their workflows, Pear Bio is improving tumour cell analysis and enhancing patient outcomes, showcasing a commitment to innovation in cancer research.

By leveraging innovative single-cell technologies and 3D modelling, this partnership aims to enhance drug efficacy and patient outcomes, marking a pivotal step in cancer research and therapy development.