Technology Spotlight from ELRIG Cell and Gene Therapy 2026 Conference

Introduction

Innovation in cell and gene therapy depends on scientific breakthroughs as well as enabling technologies that address key challenges in delivery, safety, and development efficiency.

At the ELRIG Cell and Gene Therapy 2026 conference, a number of emerging technology developers showcased solutions designed to overcome some of the most persistent bottlenecks in the field. This technology spotlight article highlights two companies that presented novel platforms that could significantly accelerate the development and scalability of advanced therapies.

From next-generation delivery systems that improve the intracellular transport of complex biologics to highly sensitive genomic analysis tools that enable safer gene editing, these innovations illustrate how specialised technologies are supporting the translation of cell and gene therapies from research to clinical reality.

PartitionBio

Partition Bio creates a droplet-based cell-delivery system for biological cargo.

Its mission is to solve one of the most significant bottlenecks in modern medicine: the safe, efficient, and affordable delivery of genetic medicines and complex biologics into human cells.

Partition Bio is developing a proprietary non-viral drug delivery platform called BubbleFect to provide an alternative to conventional delivery methods used in cell and gene therapy. BubbleFect won the ELRIG Drug Discovery 2025 Innovation Award [1]. Traditional systems, including viral vectors, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), and electroporation, come with limitations, such as toxicity, poor cell targeting, cold-chain requirements, and high manufacturing costs.

• Viral vectors, while widely used, can cause insertional mutagenesis, trigger immune responses, and have limited cargo capacity. AAV cannot efficiently package larger gene-editing systems like CRISPR-Cas9.

• Non-viral approaches such as LNPs may induce cytotoxicity and inflammatory responses due to ionisable lipids and often struggle to transfect difficult cell types, including primary or immune cells.

• Electroporation, although common in cell therapy workflows, can damage cell membranes and significantly reduce cell viability, particularly in sensitive cells such as T cells and stem cells [2].

How does BubbleFect work?

Bubble Fect uses principles of liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) to deliver a broad range of biologics, LIKE mRNA, proteins, and CRISPR components, into cells.

Image source: PartitionBio website

The benefits of using Partition Bio’s BubbleFect technology

• Enhancing CRISPR and Gene Editing: By using molecular condensates to concentrate CRISPR components, BubbleFect improves gene-editing specificity. It allows researchers to deliver gene-editing complexes as Ribonucleoproteins (RNPs), an approach that has been reported to significantly reduce off-target editing.

• Superior Efficiency and Safety: The platform demonstrates high transfection efficiency, with comparative studies showing it can increase reporter protein levels to 10 times that of leading lipid-based competitors. Furthermore, it maintains high cell viability (low cytotoxicity) and enhances mRNA stability.

• Cost-Effectiveness and Global Scalability: Because the BubbleFect system lowers production costs and eliminates reliance on complex cold chains, it makes scaling up gene therapies from the lab to the clinic far more flexible and affordable. This scalable profile is ideal for ensuring these cutting-edge therapies can actually reach global populations.

Broken String Biosciences

Broken String Biosciences is a biotechnology company focused on improving the safety and effectiveness of gene-editing-based cell and gene therapies by revealing the locations of nuclease-induced breaks in the genome. Its core technology platform, INDUCE-seq®, combines in situ break-labelling chemistry with a novel PCR-free library preparation methodology to directly label and sequence break ends in the genome by next-generation sequencing (NGS). The approach is distinct from legacy approaches to quantify gene-editing off-targets; INDUCE-seq directly quantifies break events in the genome without PCR-induced signal distortion, resulting in an accurate, noise-free representation of off-target events. This advancement streamlines sample preparation and, when paired with integrated bioinformatic analysis, delivers results in as little as two days following cell editing.

INDUCE-Seq’s gene editing applications

• Off-target assessment (specificity)

• On-target mechanism

• Kinetic analysis of the nuclease/editing system

• Guide contamination screening

• Nuclease development

• Optimisation of editing strategy (delivery, cell model, editing modality, modifying DNA repair, HDR)

Broken String Biosciences developed INDUCE-Seq to address a key unmet need in the accurate and rapid measurement of off-targets in cellulo induced by gene editing, and now simplifying the technology into an in-house platform, enabling teams to generate high-quality genome-wide data without relying on slow, outsourced services.

How it benefits cell and gene therapy development

By identifying on- and off-target characterisation, the company’s technology supports genome-wide, cell-based off-target assessment, improving therapeutic precision and accelerating development of advanced therapies. It also enables earlier, more confident go/no-go decisions, helping avoid costly clinical delays caused by off-target effects and reducing the risk of late-stage failure.

Summary

The technologies highlighted from the ELRIG Cell and Gene Therapy 2026 conference demonstrate how targeted innovation can address critical barriers in cell and gene therapy development.

Partition Bio is developing BubbleFect, a droplet-based non-viral delivery platform designed to safely and efficiently transport complex biological cargos such as mRNA, proteins, and CRISPR components into cells while improving editing specificity, reducing cytotoxicity, and enabling scalable manufacturing.

Meanwhile, Broken String Biosciences provides advanced genomic analysis through its INDUCE-seq® platform, which precisely maps DNA double-strand breaks genome-wide to assess on- and off-target gene-editing events. Together, these technologies address two major challenges in the field: efficient intracellular delivery and accurate safety assessment, helping developers optimise gene-editing strategies, reduce regulatory risk, and accelerate the development of safer and more effective advanced therapies.

References

[1] “Lipid-Free Cell Delivery System Wins ELRIG Drug Discovery 2025 Innovation Award,” Drug Discovery from Technology Networks. Accessed: Mar. 17, 2026. [Online]. Available: http://www.technologynetworks.com/drug-discovery/blog/lipid-free-cell-delivery-system-wins-elrig-drug-discovery-2025-innovation-award-405895

[2] M. Taghdiri and C. Mussolino, “Viral and Non-Viral Systems to Deliver Gene Therapeutics to Clinical Targets,” Int J Mol Sci, vol. 25, no. 13, p. 7333, Jul. 2024, doi: 10.3390/ijms25137333.