Bárbara Schlicht, Head of Product Management at Samplix, introduced the company and its main focus: developing microfluidics platforms and Xdrop instruments for high throughput screening in cell and gene therapy development. Schlicht stated: “We're capable of producing these droplets and encapsulating biological material from quite early on and we are able to analyse your samples from quite early research and take these products all the way to late development.”
The Xdrop is a droplet generator that encapsulates single cells for analysis, while the Xdrop sort encapsulates and sorts the cells based on the fluorescent outcome. Schlicht explained that the droplets that Samplix makes are double emulsions, the core is an aqueous phase and the outer phase is also aqueous and is suspended in a buffer which makes them compatible with common flow cytometers and faxes. Fax facilities are needed for screening single cells in these droplets. By encapsulating the single cells in droplets, the full secretome is contained.
The Xdrop instruments are used for various applications, including target validation, process development, and product characterization. The simple workflow contains just three preparation steps: adding reagents and samples into the pre-prepared cartridge, inserting the cartridge into the instrument, and generating droplets. Within 8 minutes, there are 1 million droplets to assay. Furthermore, the cartridges allow scientists to work with eight assays in parallel. Then the droplets can either be sorted with the Xdrop sort or they can be incubated, grown, amplified, and analysed in the fax. The droplets protect cells from shear forces during sorting, enhancing their survival rate.
The Xdrop can add value to target validation by identifying gene insertion sites including those in CAR-T cells, ensuring precise genomic modifications. Schlicht expanded on the diverse nature of the Xdrop technology by stating that it facilitates functional assays by capturing cytokine secretion at the single-cell level which helps scientists select high-secreting immune cells that may be effective in therapy. Xdrop can also be used for genomic analysis and killing assays.
The technical advantages of Xdrop make it a powerful and scalable tool for gene and cell therapy development. The system is not only compatible with existing laboratory equipment but also cost-effective, allowing researchers to perform high-throughput screening without expensive infrastructure.
