Newcastle, UK – [17.02.2025] – Atelerix, the pioneering biotech company revolutionising cell preservation, has unveiled BloodReady™, a first-of-its-kind solution that extends the shelf life of fresh whole blood for up to three days at refrigerated temperatures (2-8°C) - without cryopreservation or chemical fixation.
This innovation tackles a major challenge in clinical diagnostics, biopharma research, and immune monitoring, where time-sensitive blood samples degrade rapidly, affecting test accuracy and limiting logistical flexibility. BloodReady™ overcomes this barrier, maintaining immune cell integrity and viability for more consistent and reliable analysis.
Revolutionising Blood Sample Logistics
Whole blood is an essential resource in clinical testing, immunophenotyping, and biomarker analysis, yet its utility is often compromised by its extremely short stability window. Typically, blood samples must be processed within 24 hours of collection to prevent cellular degradation, selective loss of immune cell populations, and biochemical changes.
Many current stabilisation methods - such as chemical fixatives (Cyto-Chex, TransFix, formaldehyde) or cryopreservation - introduce significant drawbacks:
- Fixatives alter leukocyte proportions and can degrade key surface markers, leading to biased immunophenotyping data.
- Cryopreservation damages fragile cell types, disrupts biological functionality, and is often impractical for large-scale transport.
BloodReady™ offers a game-changing alternative, using Atelerix’s proprietary hydrogel encapsulation technology to preserve whole blood samples in a viable state. This method enables:
- More reliable diagnostics – immune profiling and disease monitoring remain accurate, even after extended storage.
- Flexible sample transport – blood can be shipped globally without requiring immediate processing, avoiding logistical bottlenecks.
- Batch testing compatibility – improving efficiency in clinical trials, large-scale epidemiological studies, and drug development research.
Scientific validation of BloodReady™ demonstrates its ability to maintain the integrity of whole blood samples for extended periods, with:
- >95% viability of whole blood leukocytes after 3 days, compared to 75% with standard storage and just 12% with cryopreservation.
- Minimal impact on leukocyte proportions, with preserved T cells, B cells, monocytes, and NK cells, as well as their subpopulations.
- Better preservation of key immune cell markers than major competitors, ensuring accurate immunophenotyping.
Expert Perspectives on BloodReady™
Scientific Innovation
Dr. Steve Swioklo, Chief Scientific Officer of Atelerix, highlighted the scientific impact of BloodReady™, stating:
"Ensuring the integrity of whole blood samples has been a long-standing challenge in clinical research. BloodReady™ offers a true paradigm shift—delivering stable, high-quality samples without the limitations of fixation or freezing. Our data shows that key immune cell populations and their biomarkers remain intact, allowing for robust downstream applications in immunophenotyping, diagnostics, and drug development."
Operational Impact
Alastair Carrington, CEO of Atelerix, emphasised the commercial and logistical benefits:
"The launch of BloodReady™ is a huge step forward in bioscience logistics. We’re eliminating the bottlenecks caused by sample degradation, enabling more flexible and cost-effective workflows. The ability to store and transport whole blood for up to three days without freezing opens up new possibilities for clinical trials, research institutions, and diagnostics companies worldwide."
A New Standard for Whole Blood Research
With its ability to extend blood viability while maintaining cellular function, BloodReady™ is poised to become a new gold standard in whole blood sample preservation. Researchers, biopharma companies, and clinical diagnostic laboratories can now overcome geographic and logistical barriers, enabling greater flexibility, cost efficiency, and improved data reliability.
Atelerix is actively partnering with global research institutions, healthcare providers, and biopharma leaders to integrate BloodReady™ into real-world applications, transforming how blood samples are collected, transported, and analysed.
Find Out More
For more information on BloodReady™, visit www.atelerix.co.uk or contact sales@atelerix.co.uk
About Atelerix
Crafting shelf-stable science inspired by hedgehogs, Atelerix is the answer to the cryopreservation headache. With a gel that's not just cool but doesn't need to be cold, they're setting cells, tissues, and viruses free from the icy grip of traditional storage and shipping methods. Welcome to the future of bioscience, where the storage is easy, and the cells are always fresh.
