University of Houston spinout, CellChorus, recently received a patent for a technology that will analyze a large number of cells at a single-cell resolution. This technology was initially developed at University of Houston and is currently exclusively licensed to CellChorus.
CellChorus conducts thousands of microscopy experiments using artificial intelligence to give scientists an understanding of which cells perform better and why.
The company’s latest patented technology is powered by algorithms that analyzes individual cell performance across dozens of metrics such as cell motility, contact, killing, survival and cytokine secretion.
“In addition to providing insight into the function and performance of cells, these dynamic metrics can be linked to data from other single cell technologies like single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). The platform helps scientists determine which therapies to move forward in clinical trials, understand patient response, and maintain manufacturing consistency,” said Dan Meyer, CEO of CellChours.
CellChorus has already worked with some of the top biopharmaceutical companies and leading developers and providers of cell therapies.
The CellChorus technology has been featured in peer-reviewed publications featuring collaborations between the Single Cell Lab at the University of Houston and researchers at several Texas-based medical research organizations such as Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital, the University of Houston, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
“Most of our customers collaborate or contract with at least one of these Houston-based institutions. For example, most of the top companies conduct clinical trials in Houston, which presents opportunities for CellChorus to more efficiently evaluate clinical samples,” Meyer said.
“We aim to advance immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer patients with the aid of this proprietary single-cell platform,” said Navin Varadarajan, a chemical engineering professor at UH and the chief scientific officer at CellChorus.
One goal for CellChrous this year is to spread their work into different technology types and uses.
“Most of the work we have done with customers has been focused on CAR-T cell therapies in oncology, but the platform is broadly applicable across different therapeutic types and disease areas,” Meyer said.
CellChorus recently posted data demonstrating the importance of T cell immunity in COVID-19. Keep a lookout for more on that story