SPT Labtech and Semarion collaborate to advance automated cell-based assay workflows
Integration of firefly liquid handling platform and SemaCyte microcarriers enables flexible, miniaturized, and automated cell assay workflows
14 Jul 2025Product news
SPT Labtech has announcef a strategic collaboration with Semarion, a University of Cambridge spin-out company from the Cavendish Laboratory. The partnership will integrate SPT Labtech’s firefly® liquid handling platform with Semarion’s SemaCyte® microcarrier technology to develop a flexible, scalable, and automated workflow that simplifies and accelerates key stages of adherent cell assay development.
By integrating firefly with Semarion’s microcarrier-based approach, the collaboration will overcome long-standing challenges in miniaturizing and automating complex cell biology processes.
Together, SPT Labtech and Semarion will set a new standard for flexibility and scalability in cell-based assay design — enabling researchers to more easily adapt workflows to their unique applications while improving efficiency and reproducibility, for example, high-content image based assays such as cell painting.
The collaboration will also explore the development of joint application protocols, proof-of-concept data, and workflow optimization strategies, with the goal of providing researchers with more adaptable tools for cell-based discovery.
Maryia Karpiyevich, Product Development Scientist at SPT Labtech, said, “This collaboration is an exciting opportunity to explore how cutting-edge technologies like Semarion’s microcarriers can be seamlessly integrated into flexible automation platforms like firefly. We’re looking forward to developing tools that truly empower scientists working at the forefront of cellular research.”
Jeroen Verheyen, CEO and Co-Founder at Semarion, added. This partnership demonstrates the impact of combining our innovative microcarrier technology with agile automation. By Integrating our SemaCyte platform with SPT Labtech’s firefly system, we’re unlocking a new class of flexible, miniaturized workflows that streamline assay development and unlock more scalable discovery pipelines.”