Axio BioPharma and Shimadzu Collaborate to Advance AI-Guided Cell Culture Media Optimization

Combines Shimadzu’s CellTune Ver.2 and Media Blending Kit with Axio BioPharma’s lab capabilities to optimize antibody expression.

MADISON, WI, UNITED STATES, November 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Axio BioPharma, a biomanufacturing technology company combining laboratory execution with data infrastructure, today announced a collaboration with Shimadzu Corporation, a global provider of analytical and measuring technologies, to advance cell culture media optimization for biologics development.

Under the collaboration, the companies will bring together Shimadzu’s CellTune Ver.2 software and Media Blending Kit with Axio BioPharma’s expression and laboratory capabilities in Madison, Wisconsin. The teams will evaluate an integrated workflow designed to connect AI- and data-guided media optimization with experimental execution, enabling proposed culture conditions to be tested, evaluated and refined in the laboratory.

Optimizing cell culture media is a complex, multidimensional process. Developers must evaluate combinations of media components, supplements and culture conditions while balancing productivity, development timelines and experimental resources. As the number of variables increases, traditional trial-and-error approaches can require significant laboratory time and multiple rounds of experimentation.

Shimadzu’s CellTune Ver.2 is designed to support the optimization of cell culture conditions using statistical analysis and artificial intelligence to identify parameters for optimization and propose conditions for experimental evaluation. Its Media Blending Kit supports the preparation of defined combinations of supplements and base media for laboratory testing.

Through the collaboration, Axio BioPharma will execute media optimization studies at its Madison laboratory, providing the wet-lab environment needed to evaluate proposed conditions within antibody expression workflows. The work will allow the companies to explore how computationally guided experimental design and high-throughput laboratory execution can be combined into a more structured approach to cell culture optimization.

“Media optimization has enormous potential to improve an expression process, but the experimental burden required to systematically evaluate all of the variables can make it difficult to prioritize within development timelines,” said Justin Byers, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Axio BioPharma.

“Shimadzu brings a sophisticated approach to designing and refining culture conditions, while Axio brings the laboratory infrastructure to execute those experiments and generate the data needed for the next iteration. Bringing those capabilities together is exactly the type of connection between computational insight and physical execution that we believe can make biologics development more efficient.”

Shimadzu commented as follows:

“We are delighted to collaborate with Axio Biopharma, combining its bioproduction technologies with Shimadzu’s expertise in media analysis and optimization,” said Toru Ezure, Business Unit Director, Cell Business Unit, Diagnostics Division, Analytical & Measuring Instruments Business Unit, Shimadzu Corporation. “Axio is a key partner as we expand these technologies into biopharmaceutical development. Through this proof of concept (PoC), we aim to leverage the strengths of both companies to improve development efficiency and accelerate the delivery of practical solutions that create value for society.”

For Axio BioPharma, the collaboration also expands the scope of its laboratory capabilities into expression and media optimization while reinforcing its broader strategy of connecting computational approaches with physical biomanufacturing execution.

The companies plan to share results from the collaboration separately following completion and evaluation of the initial work.

About Axio BioPharma

Axio BioPharma is building infrastructure to make biologics development and manufacturing faster, more connected and more data-driven. The company combines real laboratory execution with technology designed to improve how scientific and manufacturing information moves across systems, sites and organizations.

Axio Forge is the company’s U.S.-based high-throughput biologics laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin, supporting rapid experimentation and research-grade monoclonal antibody production on a three to five week turnaround. Axio Lattice is a coordination and translation layer designed to make scientific and manufacturing data comparable across systems and organizational boundaries without requiring centralized data pooling or changes in data ownership.

To learn more, visit www.axiobiopharma.com or follow Axio BioPharma on LinkedIn.

About Shimadzu

Founded in Kyoto, Japan, in 1875, Shimadzu Corporation develops analytical and measuring instruments, medical systems, and other advanced technologies that support healthcare, life science research, and industrial innovation. Guided by its corporate philosophy, “Contributing to Society through Science and Technology,” Shimadzu provides solutions that help advance drug discovery, regenerative medicine, clinical diagnostics, and sustainable development.

Media Contact

Madelyn De Los Santos
Putnam Insights
madelyn@putnaminsights.com