CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LumaCyte, an advanced bioanalytical instrumentation leader for rapid label-free cellular analytics, today announced the closing of a B series financing that will further accelerate growth in the company’s automated bioproduction analytics solutions and expand its global infrastructure to meet growing demand. The financing was led by Malvern Panalytical, an international leader in advanced scientific instrumentation supporting the discovery, development and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals.
Amidst a consolidating and capital-constrained market, LumaCyte experienced tremendous interest from the investment community and ultimately aligned with Malvern Panalytical. “It was very clear that the Malvern Panalytical team were the ideal growth partner due to their strong industry expertise, relevant existing solution portfolio and global footprint,” says Dr. Sean Hart, LumaCyte CEO and CSO. “We also saw the strong cultural alignment between our organizations, built on driving technical innovation and excellence, and delivering superior product quality and service.”
LumaCyte’s advanced real-time bioanalytics platform, Radiance®, is a label-free, single cell approach for quantitative characterization of innate cellular responses, without the need for antibody or genetic labeling. Utilizing the revolutionary technology, Laser Force Cytology™ (LFC), LumaCyte’s Radiance® platform instrument measures subtle phenotypic changes which occur in cells in response to their environment or treatment. These novel insights allow developers and manufacturers to measure real-time product quality attributes that enable the rapid optimization of critical bioprocesses, significantly improving production consistency, product yields, and shelf life.
Renee Hart, LumaCyte President and CBO, also highlighted the importance of finding an investment partner with deep life science analytical instrumentation expertise. “Having a partner that clearly understands the importance of real-time cell-based precision analytics as well as the increasing need for this data across both process development and continuous production monitoring assays for advanced therapies was a very important factor in our decision to partner with Malvern Panalytical.”
In connection with the financing, LumaCyte will add Mark Fleiner, President, Malvern Panalytical, to its Board of Directors. Mark has an impressive track record of global leadership across very complex manufacturing sectors, with previous roles at GE, LG, and Rolls-Royce. “I could not be more excited about supporting LumaCyte and the strong growth trajectory they have ahead. It is rare to find companies that have pioneered new analytical science and brought it to market. The cellular analytics generated by LumaCyte’s Laser Force Cytology™ are a vital component to the successful biomanufacturing of lifesaving cell therapies, gene therapies and vaccines,” Mark commented. Laser Force Cytology™ has gained much traction in the last 12 months as regulators encourage the adoption of real-time precision analytics earlier in production processes to make strides toward safer, faster, and more accessible therapies.
About LumaCyte
LumaCyte, Inc. is an advanced research and bioanalytics instrumentation company that produces label-free, single cell analysis instrumentation where the use of antibody or genetic labeling is not required for cellular analysis. This revolutionary technology utilizes Laser Force Cytology™ (LFC™) to measure optical and fluidic forces within a microfluidic channel to identify and measure the intrinsic cellular properties of each cell. The multivariate nature of the data has enabled a host of big data strategies and cloud computing capabilities that drive advanced analytics, allowing a deeper understanding of cell based biological systems. Applications of LumaCyte's label-free platform technology include viral infectivity for vaccine development and manufacturing, cell health, activation, transfection and transduction analytics for cell and gene therapy development and production monitoring, CAR T-cell immunotherapy, iPSC differentiation, adventitious agent testing (AAT), infectious disease, and pre-clinical drug discovery, in addition to multiple applications across advanced therapy biomanufacturing for real-time quality control.
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About Malvern Panalytical
We draw on the power of our analytical instruments and services to make the invisible visible and the impossible possible. Through the chemical, physical and structural analysis of materials, our high precision analytical systems support our customers in creating a better world. We help them improve everything from the energies that power us and the materials we build with, to the medicines that cure us and the foods we enjoy. We partner with many of the world’s biggest companies, universities and research organizations. They value us not only for the power of our solutions, but also for the depth of our expertise, collaboration and integrity. We are committed to Net Zero in our own operations by 2030 and in our total value chain by 2040. This is woven into the fabric of our business, and we help our employees and customers think about their part in creating a healthier, cleaner, and more productive world. With over 2300 employees, we serve the world, and we are part of Spectris plc, the world-leading precision measurement group.
We are Malvern Panalytical. We’re BIG on small.™
