metaimmunetech - 메타이뮨텍

MetaImmuneTech Partners with Vaxcell Bio to Pioneer the Pet Immune Monitoring Market

MetaImmuneTech, a digital immune cell analysis platform company, is accelerating its entry into the pet immune monitoring market through a strategic partnership with Vaxcell Bio, a developer of cancer immunotherapies. The collaboration aims to translate next-generation cell analysis technology from research and development (R&D) into practical applications in veterinary medicine and commercial opportunities in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

MetaImmuneTech announced on September 2 that it has begun full-scale commercialization of its proprietary pet immune function analysis system, Cellytics Pet Immunity (CPI), and commenced product deliveries under a supply agreement with Vaxcell Bio.

(사진=메타이뮨텍)

CPI is an advanced system that quantitatively analyzes the composition and activity of key immune cells responsible for innate and adaptive immunity in the peripheral blood of dogs. While conventional blood tests at veterinary clinics primarily measure blood cell counts and biochemical parameters, CPI directly evaluates the functional activity of immune cells, providing a comprehensive understanding of each animal’s immune status.

At the core of CPI’s competitive advantage is MetaImmuneTech’s proprietary Lens-free Shadow Imaging Technology (LSIT). Instead of relying on bulky and complex optical lenses, LSIT utilizes digital inline holography to capture cellular images and precisely quantify morphological changes in cells. This technology enables rapid and convenient immune cell analysis in clinical settings without requiring expensive flow cytometers, which can cost hundreds of millions of Korean won, or highly specialized personnel.

MetaImmuneTech has positioned CPI as the first commercial pet healthcare application of its flagship Cellytics platform. The company aims to establish CPI as an immune monitoring platform that tracks changes in immune status throughout the entire course of disease treatment, moving beyond one-time diagnostic testing.

Vaxcell Bio, MetaImmuneTech’s partner in this initiative, is a biotechnology company that developed Boxleukin-15, South Korea’s first cancer immunotherapy drug specifically designed for dogs. Based on interleukin-15, Boxleukin-15 has received official marketing authorization from the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) as an adjunct immunotherapy for canine mammary tumors and lymphoma. The product is currently distributed in South Korea through Yuhan Corporation. Vaxcell Bio is also expanding its global presence through a Master Partnership Agreement (MPA) with Taiwan-based Reber Genetics.

Recognizing that immune status and treatment responses can vary significantly among individual animals, even those with the same type of cancer, the two companies plan to use CPI to precisely monitor changes in immune cell composition and activity before and after Boxleukin-15 administration. Through this approach, they aim to establish optimized, personalized treatment protocols.

MetaImmuneTech is also accelerating the expansion of its clinical and distribution networks. In collaboration with Konkuk University Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, the company has established reference intervals for immune cell activity based on blood samples from healthy dogs and launched a formal testing service.

In addition, MetaImmuneTech is conducting joint research with major specialized veterinary institutions, including VIP Animal Medical Center and Leaders Animal Medical Center, to investigate the correlation between immune cell activity and clinical outcomes in canine cancer patients.

The commercialization of CPI is also regarded as a representative example of government-funded fundamental and original R&D technology being successfully translated into a commercial product.

Through the Science Belt Technology Commercialization Program under South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT, MetaImmuneTech acquired lens-free cell analysis technology developed by Korea University Sejong Campus through a technology transfer agreement. The company subsequently advanced through prototype development, protocol standardization, and clinical field validation before entering the full-scale product supply stage.

Looking ahead, MetaImmuneTech plans to expand its supply network to regional veterinary hospitals nationwide while extending CPI’s applications beyond dogs to other companion animals. Leveraging the extensive clinical data accumulated in South Korea, the company also intends to accelerate its entry into the global pet precision medicine and immune monitoring markets.

Han Sun-mi, Co-CEO of MetaImmuneTech, stated:

“The supply agreement with Vaxcell Bio marks a significant milestone, demonstrating that Cellytics’ immune cell analysis technology has progressed beyond the R&D stage and is now being implemented in real-world veterinary medicine and the immunotherapy industry.”

She added:

“Through CPI, we aim to objectively demonstrate changes in immune status before and after treatment using quantitative data and establish a new standard in the global pet precision medicine market.”

MetaImmuneTech CEO Sunmi Han and Prof. Sungkyu Seo Featured on MBC Docuprime

KBIOHealth’s Close R&D Support Bears Fruit, MetaImmuneTech Completes Manufacturing Notification for Blood Sample Processing System

The Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization for Health (KBIOHealth) announced on August 30 that MetaImmuneTech has successfully completed the manufacturing notification for its medical device, marking a significant achievement resulting from KBIOHealth’s R&D support.

MetaImmuneTech completed the medical device manufacturing notification for Cellytics Autoprep, a blood sample processing system, and its cartridge, classified as an integrated pretreatment reagent, on July 8.

Cellytics NK is an in vitro diagnostic product developed by MetaImmuneTech for the analysis of natural killer (NK) cells. To expand its presence in health screening centers, hospitals, and other medical institutions, the company has been developing an automated sample pretreatment system capable of efficiently processing multiple blood samples.

Cellytics Autoprep automates the blood sample pretreatment process, enabling rapid isolation of NK cells from whole blood. Designed to integrate with an AI-powered analysis system, the device enables more efficient processing and analysis of multiple samples.

Through the Chungcheongbuk-do Next-Generation Medical Device Technology Development Support Program, KBIOHealth provided comprehensive R&D support for the commercialization of Cellytics Autoprep and its pretreatment cartridge. The support covered the overall product development process, including the design and fabrication of the pretreatment system and cartridge, system control, and performance testing and evaluation.

A KBIOHealth official stated, “The successful completion of MetaImmuneTech’s medical device manufacturing notification demonstrates how the company’s technological capabilities, the close R&D support provided by the Advanced Medical Device Development Support Center, and financial support from Chungcheongbuk-do have translated into tangible product commercialization outcomes.”

Source: Chungcheong Maeil (CCDN) (https://www.ccdn.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=1096529)

MetaImmuneTech to Usher in an Era of Everyday Immune Health Management with Cellytics, Its Immune Cell Analysis Platform

Featured in Agriculture Meets IT

As personalized healthcare and preventive medicine continue to gain momentum worldwide, the importance of understanding one’s immune health through objective, measurable data has never been greater.

Yet despite widespread awareness of “immune health,” most people still rely on vague feelings rather than scientific measurements to assess their immune condition. While many take supplements or adopt healthier habits to improve immunity, few can actually verify whether those efforts are making a measurable difference.

Meta Immune Tech, a biotechnology startup based in South Korea, is working to change that reality through Cellytics, an innovative immune cell analysis platform designed to make immune monitoring fast, accessible, and data-driven.

In an interview with IT Donga, Seong-Gyu Seo, CTO of Meta Immune Tech, shared the company’s vision, technology, and roadmap for making immune health management as commonplace as taking one’s temperature.

Measuring Immunity Through NK Cells

“People often say their immunity is weak when they catch a cold, develop shingles, or receive a cancer diagnosis,” said Seo. “But scientifically proving immune status has historically been difficult. Our mission is to make immune health measurable—quickly, accurately, and conveniently.”

At the center of Meta Immune Tech’s approach are Natural Killer (NK) cells, one of the immune system’s most important first responders.

Unlike T cells, which require prior exposure or vaccination to mount a response, NK cells react immediately when they detect abnormal cells such as infected or cancerous cells. Because of this, NK cell activity serves as a meaningful indicator of immune function.

Cellytics evaluates immune status by isolating NK cells from a small blood sample, stimulating them, and analyzing their activation behavior.

Lensless Imaging Meets AI-Powered Cell Analysis

Meta Immune Tech’s core innovation lies in its proprietary Lensless Shadow Imaging Technology (LSIT).

Instead of relying on expensive optics or fluorescent labeling, Cellytics captures holographic shadow patterns created when light passes through immune cells.

“These interference patterns act almost like fingerprints,” Seo explained. “Each cell produces a unique holographic signature.”

The system then processes these digital inline hologram images using a CMOS image sensor and AI-based analytical algorithms.

A single 5-megapixel image can simultaneously capture hundreds to thousands of cell patterns, allowing the platform to rapidly determine activation levels for individual cells.

According to Meta Immune Tech, the technology achieves approximately 95% analytical accuracy, while dramatically reducing time and cost compared to conventional methods.

A Faster, Simpler Alternative to Traditional Immune Diagnostics

Current immune diagnostic methods such as FACS (Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting) and ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) remain effective but come with significant limitations.

FACS offers high precision but requires expensive equipment, specialized personnel, and lengthy workflows.

ELISA measures cytokine secretion rather than directly analyzing cells, often requiring two to three days for results.

Cellytics addresses these challenges with a label-free analysis approach, eliminating the need for costly antibody markers and reducing total analysis time to just 5–10 minutes.

Its simplified hardware architecture—consisting primarily of LEDs, disposable cell chips, and CMOS sensors—also enables significant miniaturization and lower manufacturing costs.

This creates the possibility of immune testing beyond large hospitals and research laboratories.

Expanding Beyond Human Healthcare

Meta Immune Tech is also diversifying its applications beyond human immune diagnostics.

The company has successfully commercialized Cellytics Pet Immunity, a veterinary immune monitoring platform currently in use at Konkuk University Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

Because animals cannot communicate symptoms directly, early detection of immune-related health issues is particularly challenging.

Cellytics Pet Immunity helps veterinarians and pet owners objectively assess:

Immune response before and after vaccination
Recovery monitoring after surgery
Effectiveness of immune-boosting treatments

Meta Immune Tech is also expanding the Cellytics platform into:

Cellytics TB for latent tuberculosis analysis
Cellytics RUO for research-use-only cell analysis applications including cell counting, viability, and activity testing

Building Trust Through Clinical Validation

As with many deep-tech biotech startups, commercial adoption remains a challenge.

The diagnostic industry is highly conservative, and healthcare professionals have relied on established technologies such as FACS and ELISA for decades.

To overcome this, Meta Immune Tech has focused heavily on clinical validation and reproducibility.

The company has collaborated with leading institutions including:

Korea University Anam Hospital
Chonnam National University Hospital

Through comparative studies and transparent data validation, Meta Immune Tech aims to establish scientific credibility for its next-generation platform.

“No matter how fast or convenient a technology may be, healthcare adoption ultimately depends on data accuracy,” Seo emphasized.

A Vision for Everyday Immune Management

Meta Immune Tech’s long-term vision is ambitious yet clear:

To make immune health monitoring as easy and routine as checking body temperature.

“Just as blood glucose monitoring transformed diabetes care, accessible immune measurement can fundamentally change preventive healthcare,” Seo said.

The company plans to complete medical device regulatory approvals for Cellytics NK and expand into:

Health screening centers
Long-term care hospitals
Asian markets
North America
Europe

Meta Immune Tech also sees opportunities in livestock immune monitoring, extending beyond companion animals to cattle and swine.

“Measure it, and you can manage it. Manage it, and you can improve it.”

With its fusion of AI, holographic imaging, and rapid immune diagnostics, Meta Immune Tech aims to define a new global standard for immune health management.