BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) has announced a strategic collaboration with the Institute for Immunology and Immune Health (I3H) at the University of Pennsylvania, to advance research in deep human immune profiling and support the development of immune-mediated therapies.
The collaboration includes developing and validating a high-parameter flow cytometry panel that can capture key functional pathways in whole blood, including phosphorylation markers, which provide powerful insight into how single cells respond to drugs or disease states. The panel will support a planned 1,000-patient immune profiling study, in partnership with the Penn Colton Center for Autoimmunity, expected to start in the summer. The project will leverage the BD FACSDiscover A8 Cell Analyzer, BD Rhapsody System, BD reagents, software and informatics, with BD teams managing reagents, instrumentation, and spectral data algorithms, and I3H teams serving as scientific and clinical leads. The team intends to publish a peer-reviewed manuscript describing the results of the study.
"This project demonstrates the power of collaboration between academia and industry," said Dr E John Wherry PhD, the Richard and Barbara Schiffrin President's Distinguished Professor, Director of the Institute for Immunology and Immune Health at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Director of the Colton Consortium for Autoimmunity. "We are bringing together cross-functional experts to transform human immune profiling for maximum impact, enabling deeper insights from our immune cells that could accelerate development of precise medical treatments."
The collaboration reflects a shared vision of unlocking the power of the human immune system to advance science and health. It is made possible by the BD FACSDiscover A8 Cell Analyzer, which is the first cell analyser featuring breakthrough spectral and real-time cell imaging technologies, and the new BD Horizon Chroma solution for dried high-parameter panels. The project supports the commitment of both organisations to contribute to the research community through collaboration and knowledge sharing.
"High-parameter single-cell studies of this kind, once considered infeasible, are increasingly becoming central to better understanding the human immune system," said Steve Conly, Worldwide President of BD Biosciences. "Our ecosystem of industry-leading BD flow cytometers, single-cell systems, reagents, software and informatics, provide a critical missing puzzle piece that can support the important work of organisations like I3H to translate and deliver immunological insights into quantitative, actionable information for discovery and clinical care teams around the world."
More information is available at bdbiosciences.com.