Ultrahigh-throughput cell interaction screening to advance car-t therapeutic development

The National Cancer Institute awarded Vivid Bioinnovations, PBC $306,872 on August 7, 2026, under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394) to develop CAGES (Cell Assemblies in Gel Enclosures), an ultrahigh-throughput platform for screening chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies.

The platform encapsulates millions of defined CAR-T and cancer cell interactions in biocompatible gel shells, enabling parallel assay of multi-day co-cultures with direct measurement of cell killing at single-cell resolution. CAGES supports recovery of cells for downstream cytokine profiling and sequencing, facilitating functional selection from large CAR libraries. The approach provides throughput exceeding current assays by more than four orders of magnitude, permitting millions of CAR-T cells to be screened based on cytotoxic function in hours. By directly linking cell function to CAR design, the technology aims to accelerate refinement of cell therapies toward enhanced efficacy and safety, particularly for challenging indications like solid tumors where current assays relying on activation or proliferation markers poorly predict tumor-killing ability.

Performance occurs in San Francisco, California. The project period runs through July 31, 2027. This is an SBIR Phase II grant, which requires the small business recipient to conduct research in the United States and its possessions.

Abstract

Chimeric antigen receptor t-cell (car-t) therapies have demonstrated incredible efficacy in certain cancers and hold enormous potential for others, yet their broader success-especially in challenging indications like solid tumors-is ultimately limited by the need for significant improvements. Current assays rely on activation or proliferation markers as proxies for cytotoxicity, which poorly predict true tumor-killing ability. As car designs become more numerous and complex, there is a critical need for scalable methods that directly measure function at the single-cell level. We are developing cages (cell assemblies in GEL enclosures), a platform that enables millions of defined car-t and cancer cell interactions to be assayed in parallel. Encapsulated in biocompatible GEL shells, these assemblies support multi-day CO-culture, direct measurement of cell killing, and recovery for downstream cytokine profiling and sequencing. This allows functional selection from large car libraries-capabilities not possible with existing technologies. Cages offer throughput more than four orders of magnitude higher than current assays, meaning millions of car-TS can be screened based on their cytotoxic function in hours, with single-cell resolution. By directly linking cell function phenotype to car design, cages will accelerate the refinement of cell therapies toward enhanced efficacy and safety.