InBio and Beckman Coulter Life Sciences partner to advance food allergy research
This collaboration is working to accelerate development of next-generation basophil activation testing
24 Jul 2025InBio and Beckman Coulter Life Sciences are collaborating to enhance the performance of basophil activation tests (BAT) for food allergy research. The collaboration integrates InBio’s Food Protein Standards and purified allergens with the Next-Generation Basophil Activation Test (BAT) platform from Beckman Coulter Life Sciences.
InBio’s Food Protein Standards and purified allergen components are potent, biologically active proteins derived from foods such as peanut, egg, milk, tree nuts, and shellfish. These reagents are a critical component for BAT tests, and are validated for immunological consistency, ensuring reproducibility in high-sensitivity assays.
Launched in the spring of 2025, the Next-Generation BAT by Beckman Coulter Life Sciences is a research use only breakthrough in functional allergy testing that offers researchers a powerful tool to assess allergic sensitization and reactivity with greater precision.
Leveraging advanced flow cytometry and automation to measure basophil activation in response to allergen exposure, the Next-Generation BAT is an in vitro alternative to oral food challenges. The integration of InBio’s food proteins ensures consistency in allergen stimulation, reducing variability and improving test interpretation.
BAT are functional assays measuring basophil activation in response to specific allergens or other stimuli. By leveraging dry technology to overcome traditional BAT challenges, standardization is enabled with conjugated antibodies and allergens pre-mixed and dried down together in a single tube, thereby enabling streamlined centrifugation-free BAT protocols consisting of only four pipetting steps.
The Next-Generation BAT powered by InBio allergens can test for multiple allergens at once through a blood draw - saving hours of food testing and exposure to potentially harmful reactions.
“This collaboration with InBio represents another crucial step forward in evolving and innovating food allergy research to deliver results faster and significantly safer to vulnerable participants,” said Jean-Marc Busnel, PhD, Principal Investigator and Senior Staff Research Scientist at Beckman Coulter Life Sciences. “Removing the complexities of oral food challenges opens new doors in food allergy research that can unleash pioneering new discoveries. Our collaboration puts this new innovation in reach to more laboratories around the world.”
“Allergens are the molecular engines of BAT testing” said Dr. Martin Chapman, CEO and Founder of InBio. “This partnership combines InBio’s expertise in food allergen manufacturing and engineering with next-gen BAT technology from Beckman Coulter Life Sciences. Together, we can provide a robust, standardized approach for food allergy with greater accuracy and reproducibility which will advance food allergic research.”