Waters Corp. has acquired Halo Labs, a company specialized in imaging technologies to detect, identify, and count interfering materials (particles) in therapeutic products, such as cell, protein, and gene therapies.

Halo’s Aura platform features a highly differentiated technology that performs full spectrum particle analysis and is complementary to the Waters light scattering detection solutions from its Wyatt Technology Portfolio. For example, its subvisible particle technology provides additional insights when characterizing external particles used to amplify CAR T-cells for cell therapy, detecting these translucent process impurities that are currently undetectable by standard methods. 

The acquisition allows Waters to integrate this emerging technology into new and existing large molecule development and QA/QC, adding value and accelerating the company’s growth into analytical and bioprocessing testing for large molecule therapies.

“Adding the innovative low-sample-volume, high-throughput technology from Halo Labs provides analysis for a broad range of sample types and volumes, enabling earlier insights during therapy development and greater safety during manufacturing,” said Dr. Udit Batra, President and Chief Executive Officer, Waters Corporation. “With the rapid growth of treatments like CAR T-cell therapies, we are investing in the innovation our customers need. Together with our existing Wyatt Technology product lines, this acquisition enhances our leadership position in specialized analytical technologies for emerging biopharma therapies.”

“We are thrilled to join forces with Waters, a company that shares our values of purposeful innovation and customer focus,” said Rick Gordon, Chief Executive Officer, Halo Labs. “This combination accelerates our vision to expand our platform’s reach, enhancing therapeutic development and production while maintaining our unwavering commitment to drug quality and safety. We look forward to driving more groundbreaking advancements that benefit patients worldwide.”