Aperture Bio

The most effective cancer drugs are immune-based but slow, expensive, and often cause toxicities, resulting in resistance in many cancer patients. Current methods for co-localized protein analysis in single cells are limited by cell quantity, sample destruction, and poor reproducibility, hindering their clinical utility in understanding resistance mechanisms in tumor and immune cells. Aperture Bio's single cell proteomics technology rapidly quantifies proteins in whole cells using a unique assay and custom algorithms, enabling the analysis of much smaller cellular samples while preserving them for downstream use. Their platform is built on proprietary computational methods and bio-orthogonal click chemistry inventions from MGH. Aperture Bio holds exclusive rights to two patents that have been featured in peer-reviewed publications, demonstrating a significant acceleration in reaction kinetics while keeping cells intact, offering new possibilities for immune profiling in clinical applications.

Currently the most efficacious cancer drugs are immune centric, but they are slow and difficult to produce, expensive, and can result in significant toxicities. Although they are the best clinical tool currently available, the majority of cancer patients still do not respond to therapy due to resistance. Co-localized protein analysis in single cells is critically important for understanding cellular function and cell-to-cell signaling, in order to unlock mechanisms of resistance in tumor and immune cells. However, current approaches either: a) require >1Mn cells–limiting use cases, such as longitudinal monitoring, b) destroy samples–limiting ability to re-interrogate or use multi-omics, and/or c) suffer from poor reproducibility due to underlying technology features and as such, are difficult to use clinically.

Aperture Bio’s single cell proteomics technology rapidly analyzes proteins in whole cells, using a novel assay and custom algorithms to quantify cell types and functional states. They can deeply interrogate cellular samples that are 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller than current methods, rapidly, while fully preserving the sample for downstream analysis, in a workflow that is interoperable with widely available hardware. Their platform is based on proprietary computational methods developed by their CSO as well as inventions in bio-orthogonal click chemistry from MGH. Aperture Bio has exclusive rights to two patents that include new chemical matter and related methods; the IP has been featured in multiple peer-reviewed publications, which include clinical data in solid tumors. Notably, their assay represents a profound acceleration in reaction kinetics (≥1000-3000-fold), never previously observed/described and that leaves cells intact, enabling clinically relevant avenues in image cycling for immune profiling.