ibidi
Scaling Cellular Microscopy to New Heights

Even with modern sequencing methods that allow scientists to quickly understand the building blocks of viruses, it often becomes difficult to capture the exact details of the infection process and any kind of interaction between the virus and the host cells.

Being a leading supplier of functional cell-based assays and advanced products for cellular microscopy, ibidi addresses this issue with an innovative surface technology that can be used to arrange adherent cells in regular (micro) patterns, either individually or in small groups. This enables the researcher to simultaneously visualize the influence of drugs and viruses on the cells.

“We are leader in tools for live cell analysis and provide innovative solutions to observe cell biology in action under in vivo like conditions. This direct method of observation gives scientists unmatched access to valuable data,” says Dr. Roman Zantl, CEO, ibidi. “So, unlike black-box biochemical experiments, there is minimal room for misinterpretation.”

The functional assays provide characteristic parameters that can be easily quantified. At the same time, these parameters often depend on complex metabolic processes within the cells. This makes it possible to sensitively measure the influence of disturbances caused, for example, by chemicals, bacteria and viruses. Migration is such a parameter. Imagine a CAR-T Cell that was transducted by Adenovirus. In case that the migration velocity is reduced through the transduction process, its kill efficiency in vitro will be lowered by orders of magnitude. “On the other hand, we can quantify also cell killing efficacy straight ahead using single tumor cell patterns that are brought in contact with migrating CAR-T cells,” Zantl mentions.

We are leader in tools for live cell analysis and provide innovative solutions to observe cell biology in action under in vivo like conditions

To put things into perspective, during the corona crisis, ibidi was approached by several groups with the challenge to mimic the lung situation by providing cell culture of lung epithelial cells sat the water-air interface and simultaneously microscope them. The aim was to observe the interaction between virus and host cells under in vivo-like conditions. This provides fast and reliable information about the mode of action and efficacy of drugs and thus helps to develop more effective therapies against a virus more quickly.

That’s not all! ibidi also takes cardiovascular diseases and cancers into consideration. Together with its partner company MetaViLabs, it is currently involved in the field of cell kill assays in order to be able to develop immuno-oncological therapies faster and more effectively. “Single cell arrays are used in combination with automated image analysis. We are now able to quantify cell kill efficiency very precisely and have already generated significant interest in the pharmaceutical community,” mentions Zantl.

What keeps ibidi always one step ahead of the rest is its focus on quality. “We always strive for the highest quality and customer satisfaction,” says Zantl. They also tend to tackle difficult technical problems, as this strategy helps to increase their technological edge while sharpening USPs.

With such a unique value proposition, ibidi is heading toward a promising future. They believe that there is a strong trend to use cell-based imaging assays more in drug development as well. “This is exciting to see, as ibidi has been enthusiastically developing technologies in this very area for exactly 20 years. So if one has a question in this regard and is looking for a collaboration partner, they can be rest assured that we've got their back,” concludes Zantl.