Biotium has introduced the ViaPlex 2-Color Cell Barcoding Kit, extending its flow cytometry portfolio with a multiplexing tool designed to collapse multiple samples into a single staining and acquisition workflow. The kit uses two reactive fluorescent dyes, working in the 405 nm and 488 nm channels, to generate a 15-plex barcoding matrix, with an optional 16th sample possible through compensation.
The appeal is obvious enough for laboratories running screening-heavy programmes. By barcoding separate cell populations before combining them into one tube, users can reduce reagent consumption, shorten instrument time, and cut sample-to-sample variability introduced by running parallel staining reactions. That becomes particularly useful in drug discovery and immunology workflows where panel complexity is rising but instrument access, reagent budgets, and turnaround times remain stubbornly finite.
Biotium says the kit is compatible with both surface and intracellular staining workflows, and can be used either before or after cell treatment depending on experimental design. A more consequential detail is that ViaPlex does not require fixation or permeabilisation at the barcoding step, allowing use with live cells, while still maintaining stable covalent labelling if cells are fixed later for intracellular analysis. That gives the product a broader workflow fit than some barcoding approaches built around harsher sample preparation.
Dr Alexis Madrid, assistant director of Biotium’s Bioscience department, said the kit should prove particularly useful for researchers running drug or cellular screening by flow. Biotium’s own data show 15 separately labelled Jurkat cell populations resolved in a single analysis, which is the sort of performance claim likely to attract attention in labs trying to extract more throughput from established cytometry platforms without redesigning their panels from scratch.
For reagent suppliers, launches like this are increasingly about workflow efficiency rather than raw fluorophore count. Laboratories already know how to generate more data; the harder task is doing it with less waste, fewer handling steps, and tighter reproducibility. Product details are available on Biotium’s ViaPlex product page.
