BioCytics and LIDE Biotech Form CRO Alliance to Develop PDX Screening Platforms for Immuno-Oncology Cell Therapy

• BioCytics, Inc., a Huntersville, North Carolina-based human applications laboratory developing Autologous Adaptive Immune Cell Therapy for solid tumors, has formed a strategic alliance with LIDE Biotech, a Shanghai-based preclinical oncology CRO with over 2,300 PDX models across 40+ cancer types, to jointly develop advanced screening platforms and companion diagnostics for immune-based cancer cell therapies.

• The initial pilot project under a recently executed MOU will create murine PDX models using ethically consented human biospecimens from BioCytics’ ongoing IRB-approved tumor and immune cell collection study, enabling in vivo validation of drug resistance and cell death responses — and marking LIDE Biotech’s first-ever partnership with a U.S.-based company.

BioCytics, Inc., a privately held health technology company developing Autologous Adaptive Immune Cell Therapy for the treatment of solid tumors, and LIDE Biotech, a Shanghai-based preclinical oncology CRO, announced on August 13, 2026, from Huntersville, North Carolina, a strategic alliance to develop advanced screening platforms and companion diagnostics for immune-based cancer cell therapies. The collaboration is structured under a recently executed MOU and combines BioCytics’ specialized cell manufacturing capabilities with LIDE Biotech’s patient-derived xenograft technologies — including standard PDX, miniPDX®, and IO-based PDX models — to streamline translational development of immuno-oncology treatments.

The initial pilot project will center on the creation of murine PDX models using human biospecimens collected from ethically consented patients enrolled in BioCytics’ IRB-approved tumor and immune cell collection study, which opened in 2007 and remains ongoing under ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00571389. The PDX models generated through this project will be used to observe critical in vivo responses — including drug resistance and induced cell death — in cells being treated under BioCytics’ AAICT platform. Subsequent studies will extend into DNA and RNA sequencing to investigate human anti-tumor immune cell function and generate additional molecular pathway and response data across the applied analytical methodologies.

For biopharma sponsors and translational researchers working in immuno-oncology, the collaboration addresses a specific scientific gap: the need for biologically relevant, patient-derived in vivo models that can capture the complex interaction between a patient’s own immune cells and their tumor in a manner that conventional cell line-derived models cannot replicate. LIDE Biotech’s CRO platform is purpose-built around this translational challenge, with over 2,300 PDX models covering more than 40 cancer types, including more than 200 primary or acquired drug-resistant PDX models derived from patient samples. The company’s proprietary miniPDX technology — a seven-day in vivo organoid assay — provides a particularly rapid readout for candidate evaluation that complements the longer-cycle standard PDX validation approach. LIDE operates AAALAC-accredited SPF-level animal centers and biosafety level 2 laboratories from its Shanghai base.

The partnership represents LIDE Biotech’s first-ever collaboration with a U.S.-based company, marking a significant step in the CRO’s strategy to extend its translational PDX platform beyond China and into the North American biopharma and immuno-oncology ecosystem. BioCytics, co-located with Carolina BioOncology Institute — a cancer treatment and clinical trial facility — brings a patient-first infrastructure that includes direct access to annotated human biospecimens and an established IRB-governed collection framework, giving the alliance an ethically grounded and clinically connected biospecimen supply chain from the outset.

“Working with LIDE Biotech enables real breakthroughs in personalized medicine for cancer patients. We are excited about exploring our developments for autologous adaptive immune cell therapy within this unique model. We expect to learn more about the molecular pathways and signatures based upon the applied analytical methodologies.”

Dr. Brent Dixon, Chief Operating Officer, BioCytics