CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LumaCyte, a leader in advanced label-free single-cell analytics through its novel Laser Force Cytology™ (LFC™) platform, announces today the addition of Jim Robinson to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Jim brings more than 35 years of CMC vaccine manufacturing experience to the LumaCyte SAB, holding previous executive level positions at Merck, Sanofi Pasteur and Novavax, and is currently a member and the Vice Chair of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) Scientific Advisory Committee. Jim will join Gray Heppner, MD, FACP, FASTMH, who is the Chief Medical Officer at VAXXINITY and has been a member of the LumaCyte SAB since 2017. Dr. Heppner is a vaccinologist by training with more than 30 years of global vaccine clinical development experience, and is a member of the National Biodefense Science Board.

“I am excited to join the LumaCyte Scientific Advisory Board and help realize the transformational potential the Radiance® platform has in viral manufacturing,” says Robinson. “Faster and more accurate viral infectivity measurements through Radiance® should replace the antiquated technology of plaque and TCID50 assays as LumaCyte’s Radiance® platform can significantly improve accuracy of formulation for dose sparing, having the ability to have real-time in-process viral titer testing during vaccine development and manufacturing is truly game changing for the industry.”

The need to accelerate vaccine development and production timelines has never been more important. Radiance’s label-free technology platform rapidly measures quantitative early indicators of cellular response to viral infection, rendering the lengthy development of antibodies or reagents unnecessary. Radiance® infectivity data correlates with plaque and TCID50 assays as well as ddPCR for cell and gene therapy applications, making adoption and validation of the LumaCyte platform fast with a click play and walk away user experience.

“We are living in unprecedented times where the need for speed and innovative vaccine manufacturing solutions are vital to saving lives by breaking through the current status quo and modernizing dated analytical processes, Jim’s vast experience and expertise across vaccine development and production will be a great asset to our team and we are thrilled to have him in a leadership role with the company through our SAB,” says Sean Hart, LumaCyte’s Chief Executive Officer and CSO. “Vaccine manufacturing is a very complex process, and we are pleased to be able to offer a highly advanced analytical platform that provides real-time viral infectivity monitoring with the unique ability to significantly improve vaccine production and extend product shelf life through accurate and precise viral titer measurements.”

As a Process Analytical Technology (PAT), LumaCyte’s Radiance® platform brings speed and automation to vaccine biopharmaceutical developers and manufacturers, allowing months to be shaved off of lengthy and often difficult R&D and production timelines. Rapid optimization of both upstream and downstream manufacturing processes is key to getting vaccines to patients much faster than ever before. The historically slow, laborious, and error prone existing assays have put added constraints on the vaccine industry and the pandemic has spotlighted the need for advanced R&D and production capabilities, enabling faster delivery of higher quality vaccines.

More details on LumaCyte’s Laser Force Cytology™ (LFC) published in Springer Methods and Protocols, Vaccine Delivery Technology.

About LumaCyte

LumaCyte is an advanced research and bioanalytics instrumentation company that produces label-free, single cell analysis and sorting 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 and gene therapy development and production monitoring, cancer biology R&D, CAR T-cell immunotherapy, adventitious agent testing (AAT), iPSCs, infectious disease, and pre-clinical drug discovery, in addition to multiple applications across the biomanufacturing sector for quality control and process optimization.

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