Bio-Techne, a Minneapolis, MN-based life sciences company providing tools and bioactive reagents for the research and clinical diagnostic communities, acquired Lunaphore Technologies SA, a Tolochenaz, Switzerland-based life sciences company developing technology to enable spatial biology in laboratory.
The amount of the deal was not disclosed.
Founded in 2014 and led by CEO Dr. Ata Tuna Ciftlik, Lunaphore is a developer of automated spatial biology solutions using precision microfluidic technology capable of revealing hyperplex proteomic and transcriptomic biomarkers in tumors and other tissues at single-cell and subcellular resolution. Its technology and instrumentation empower researchers in immunology, immune-oncology, and neuroscience to accelerate therapeutic development. This technology enables the identification of biomarker “signatures” with clinical relevance, providing data necessary to support the development of diagnostic tools and streamline clinical trials, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.
Lunaphore’s instrument portfolio includes COMET™, an end-to-end spatial biology platform, with staining, imaging, and image preprocessing steps integrated into a fully automated, high-throughput instrument, that delivers automation with scalability, reproducibility, and tissue morphology. Designed for use with standard pathology slides, COMET™’s tissue profiling capabilities enable the analysis of 40 different spatial biomarkers per sample in each automated run, allowing for virtually unlimited plex. The product portfolio is complemented by SPYRE™ antibody panel kits and HORIZON™ image analysis software. Lunaphore also offers LabSat®, an automated tissue staining instrument that offers a 30-minute turn-around time.
The acquisition is anticipated to close in Q3, and with it, Bio-Techne will expand its offerings. Bio-Techne and Lunaphore recently announced a partnership to develop an automated spatial multiomic workflow. This solution will utilize Lunaphore’s COMET instrument and SPYRE antibody panels as well as Bio-Techne’s RNAscope HiPlex technology to enable simultaneous hyperplex detection of protein and RNA biomarkers on the same slide at single-cell resolution.
