This company develops an automated liquid biopsy instrument that isolates circulating tumor cells from whole blood for cancer diagnostics. Their microfluidic cartridge technology enables high-purity collection of intact tumor cells in under an hour, improving therapeutic decisions.
Funding
$4.5M raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
NFounders
Product
Problem
Isolating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from whole blood is challenging due to their rarity relative to other blood components. Traditional invasive tissue biopsies offer limited insight into the heterogeneous nature of cancer and do not allow for frequent monitoring of disease progression or treatment response.
Solution
Vortex BioSciences offers the VTX-1 Liquid Biopsy System, an automated platform for capturing and collecting viable CTCs directly from whole blood. The system utilizes a microfluidic cartridge to simplify and automate CTC isolation, providing a non-invasive method for real-time monitoring of cancer biology. By capturing intact CTCs, the Vortex system provides a more representative sample of the disease, enabling researchers to gain insights into tumor heterogeneity, evolution, and treatment resistance. The captured CTCs can be collected into a container of choice for downstream processing and analysis.
Target Audience
The primary target audience includes cancer researchers and translational scientists seeking to advance the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer through liquid biopsy analysis.
Features
- Automated CTC capture and collection from whole blood
- Microfluidic cartridge technology for high-purity CTC isolation
- Non-invasive alternative to traditional tissue biopsies
- Enables real-time monitoring of cancer biology
- Captures clinically relevant, viable CTCs
- Provides flexibility in downstream processing with various collection options (Eppendorf tube, well strip, slide chamber, or petri dish)
- Automated blood dilution and processing within the cartridge