The late Professor Chris Abell
Sphere Fluidics
Professors Chris Abell and Wilhelm Huck founded Sphere Fluidics in 2010 ato develop commercial opportunities using microdroplets to address industrial challenges through partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
The technology involves generating water droplets 30-100 microns in diameter that are pumped in a fluorocarbon carrier oil inside a microfluidic system. Antibody discovery is a key area where microdroplets could have significant impact through automation of the parallel screening required. Sphere Fluidics have used this microdroplet technology to develop and patent an instrument, the CytoMineR , for the automated discovery of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, which is set to transform the way that the biopharmaceutical industry works in this area.
The company was initially based in the department and moved to its current premises on the Babraham Research Campus in 2013, and will shortly be opening a facility in San Francisco, California.