BD and Biosero, announced a framework collaboration agreement to enable and facilitate robotic arm integration with BD flow cytometry instruments to accelerate drug discovery and development. [BD]
As therapeutic pipelines grow more complex — with multispecific antibodies, cell therapies, and genomic medicines demanding rigorous immunological characterization — flow cytometry is a core enabler of advanced immunophenotyping and functional analysis. Yet while experiments require unprecedented precision (high parameters are commonplace with sometimes 18+ color panels), manual workflows can struggle to meet throughput demands without compromising reproducibility.
Against that backdrop, BD Biosciences has formed a strategic collaboration with Biosero—unifying the former’s experience in flow cytometry expertise with the latter’s experience with automation technologies. The net result is the integration of robotic arms and the capability to schedule software directly into BD’s flow platforms. This combined approach addresses common researchers’ pain points—including error-prone plate handling, inter-operator variability, and the opportunity cost of highly trained staff performing repetitive tasks. To unpack how this partnership delivers on those needs, we reached out to Eric Diebold (VP/GM of instruments, software, and informatics, BD Biosciences).
Could you comment on the potential cost implications of deploying robotics for flow cytometry in the long run? Can you say more about how it can help labs save money by reducing errors and automating tedious work?
BD-Biosero robotic integration pact at a glance
BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) and Biosero are collaborating to incorporate robotic arms and Biosero’s Green Button Go automation software into BD’s flow cytometry instruments. Their goal: reduce manual, repetitive tasks—like swapping out multiwell plates—so labs can handle potentially dozens or hundreds of samples without constant intervention.
This automation is especially valuable for high-parameter flow cytometry used in drug discovery and cell therapy manufacturing. Early integrations (for BD FACSymphony A1, A5 SE, and BD FACSLyric) are scheduled for release in 2025, with the BD FACSDiscover series on the roadmap.
By cutting down on error-prone steps and freeing up staff, BD and Biosero’s partnership promises faster, more cost-effective operations for labs handling increasingly complex immunophenotyping workflows.
Diebold: Robotic automation is an integral part of our flow cytometry instrument strategy at BD Biosciences and we continue to focus efforts around building automation into our growing portfolio. We have already commercialized the BD FACSDuet Premium Sample Preparation System to automate the clinical flow cytometry workflow, and with this collaboration with Biosero, we continue the journey to the translational research segment. Deploying robotics for flow cytometry can have significant cost implications for labs in the long run, by way of increased reproducibility, standardization, and efficiency, and reduced human error.
For added context, flow cytometry continues to evolve in ways that are creating new and more complex insights into the biology of cells and the immune system, and as the role of flow cytometry in life science research and drug development has become increasingly relevant and complex in the last few years – especially as immunotherapies have become a promising approach to personalized cancer and autoimmune treatments – the experiments supporting that R&D work also becomes more complex. More and more, these flow cytometry experiments can require significant amounts of hands-on, and as you mentioned, tedious, time to prepare specimens, acquire the data, and analyze the results — all of which can be increasingly addressed by robotic automation. As just one example, one pharma company recently reported that by implementing robotic automation technologies in their translational flow cytometry lab, they saved the equivalent of 25 full-time employees while doubling the volume of their testing.
One pharma company recently reported that by implementing robotic automation technologies in their translational flow cytometry lab, they saved the equivalent of 25 full-time employees while doubling the volume of their testing.
Eric Diebold
Which strategies is BD pursuing to address potential concerns about up-front costs, integration complexity, and potential error amplification when implementing robotic systems for flow cytometry?
Diebold: As mentioned, robotic automation is an integral part of our flow cytometry instrument strategy at BD Biosciences and we continue to focus efforts around building automation into our growing portfolio — and supporting customers fully around up-front installation, integration complexity, and minimizing potential errors is an important part of that. We are partnering with Biosero, a proven expert in the design, integration, and implementation of robotic automation workflow solutions so that we could have a reliable and trusted partner at the table with us when having critical conversations with customers and supporting their successful integration. Avoiding mistakes that are easy to overlook in the automation design process of a customized workflow was a primary driver in the decision to work alongside Biosero, and we believe working jointly to support our customers will minimize concerns about integration complexity.
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