Akoya Biosciences to showcase spatial biology 2.0 solutions

Akoya Biosciences will be showcasing its latest Spatial Biology 2.0 solutions and ultrahigh-plex spatial phenotyping data at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 38th Annual Meeting, being held in San Diego, California, November 1-5, 2023. At booth #719, Akoya Biosciences will highlight its new PhenoCycler-Fusion 2.0 and PhenoImager HT 2.0 platforms, which offer significant advancements in speed and scale for spatial biology research. PhenoCycler-Fusion 2.0: Features multi-slide automation, enabling researchers to generate ultrahigh-plex spatial phenotyping data for larger and more complex samples at unprecedented speed. PhenoImager HT 2.0: Features onboard spectral unmixing, which accelerates biomarker development and validation workflows. Among the posters being presented at SITC is one describing the spatial tumor microenvironment landscapes of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma tissues from patients over the course of immunotherapy treatment. An ultrahigh-plex antibody panel encompassing cell lineages, activation states, immune checkpoints, structural and metabolic markers was deployed on the PhenoCycler-Fusion platform for analysis of the tissue microenvironment. Cellular phenotypes, spatial neighborhoods and functional states driving tumor pathogenesis and response to immunotherapy were identified. The poster will be presented by Arutha Kulasinghe, Ph.D., leader of the Clinical-oMx Group at the Frazer Institute of the University of Queensland, Australia, and founding scientific director of the Queensland Spatial Biology Centre. Dr. Kulasinghe, his colleagues, and Akoya collaborators recently published a peer-reviewed article describing another ultrahigh-plex spatial biology study that revealed a high degree of intra-tumoral heterogeneity and distinct immune microenvironments in a tumor tissue section from a head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patient with a partial response to treatment with an immune checkpoint inhibitor. These studies reinforce the value of single-cell ultrahigh-plex spatial phenotyping as a powerful tool for defining spatial tissue signatures associated with therapy response and resistance. Fourteen of Akoya’s eighteen qualified CRO service providers will also be exhibiting at SITC. Akoya’s CRO network continues to grow rapidly, reflecting the demand for spatial phenotyping solutions across the biopharmaceutical industry. Offering biomarker testing services, these CROs enable drug developers and academic research institutions to accelerate the discovery and development of new immuno-therapies.