bit.bio has launched ioScreen and appointed Sejla Salic-Hainzl as its first Chief Technology Officer, expanding the Cambridge company’s screening service and leadership team.
The new service gives pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies access to industrial-scale CRISPR screening in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cells without having to build those systems in-house. Salic-Hainzl takes up the newly created role after nearly six years leading research and development at bit.bio Discovery.
ioScreen is aimed at drug discovery programmes that rely on functional genomics, in which researchers alter gene activity to study disease biology and assess potential drug targets. Customers can use the service with bit.bio’s CRISPR-Ready ioCells, with other products in its portfolio, or by bringing their own cell models into the platform.
CRISPR screening is now widely used in early-stage drug research, but many organisations still find it difficult to adopt at scale. It often requires specialist infrastructure, technical expertise and large numbers of cells, particularly when researchers want to run screens in human iPSC-derived models rather than standard immortalised cell lines.
The service builds on work already carried out through bit.bio Discovery for several large pharmaceutical companies. That work focused on developing large-scale custom screens in mature human iPSC-derived cells, which the company now aims to make available to a broader customer base.
Technology role
Creating the company’s first Chief Technology Officer role marks a shift in its senior structure as it broadens its commercial offering and technical focus. Salic-Hainzl previously served as Vice President of Research & Development at bit.bio Discovery, where she led development of the company’s functional genomics work.
Her promotion also highlights the growing importance of functional genomics within the business. The role was created as demand increases from pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic organisations for human cell models used in preclinical research.
ioScreen is designed to let researchers switch genes on or off, or adjust their activity, to observe the effects in cell models intended to more closely reflect human biology. bit.bio argues that this offers a different route to studying disease mechanisms than methods based on immortalised cell lines.
This is particularly relevant in fields where researchers want to identify and validate drug targets at an early stage, before larger development programmes begin. The service can also be used for pathway analysis, mechanistic studies, disease modelling and target discovery.
Chief Executive Officer Dr Emma Pepperell linked the launch and the senior appointment to the company’s next phase of development.
“As bit.bio enters its next phase of growth, we’re investing in both the leadership and technologies that will define the future of human first research and drug discovery,” said Dr Emma Pepperell, Chief Executive Officer, bit.bio.
“Creating our first Chief Technology Officer role strengthens our executive team as we continue to scale the business and expand our portfolio. At the same time, the ioScreen platform removes many of the barriers that have historically limited access to high-quality functional genomics, enabling researchers to leverage the data without needing the expertise,” said Dr Pepperell.
Screening access
For drug developers, one of the main obstacles in CRISPR screening is not only the gene-editing process itself, but also producing enough consistent cells for a reliable screen. Industrial-scale work in human iPSC-derived cells has historically been constrained by the time and cost of generating the billions of cells required.
bit.bio’s wider business centres on deterministic cell programming, which it uses to produce human cells for research applications. By adding ioScreen as a service, the company is moving further into providing not just cell products, but also screening services based on those models and the associated expertise.
This positions bit.bio in a part of the research market where service models appeal to customers seeking access to specialist methods without building in-house teams. It also reflects a broader trend in biotech tools, as platform companies combine proprietary cell systems with outsourced research services.
Salic-Hainzl said the company’s experience in functional genomics had reached the point where it could be offered more widely.
“I’m honoured to take on the role of Chief Technology Officer at such an exciting point in bit.bio’s growth. We’ve built deep expertise in applying human iPSC-derived cell models to functional genomics, helping researchers better understand disease biology in systems that more closely reflect human physiology. The ioScreen platform is an important step in bringing those capabilities to a much broader community of drug discovery teams, who can supplement their own expertise with ours. I’m excited to help shape bit.bio’s technology strategy as we continue to accelerate the development of more predictive human biology tools,” said Salic-Hainzl.