CellTrack enables non-invasive PET imaging of therapeutic cell biodistribution with 100× greater sensitivity than existing methods — cutting development time and cost in half.
The Challenge
After injecting therapeutic cells, physicians have no way to know where those cells go, whether they reach the tumor, or if they're working. This lack of visibility costs billions and years in failed clinical trials.
Average time to develop a cell therapy without real-time biodistribution tracking
Average cost to develop a single cell therapy from preclinical to clinical
Cell therapy companies targeting solid tumors with no reliable biodistribution data
Our Solution
A proprietary three-step process that labels therapeutic cells with Zirconium-89 for high-resolution, non-invasive PET imaging — without compromising cell viability or function.
Non-Human Primate PET/CT Imaging — 3D Reconstruction
These images show CellTrack-labeled cells being tracked inside a living primate using PET/CT — a technique that combines radioactive cell labeling with medical scanners to reveal exactly where cells travel after injection. The 3D reconstructions display the animal's body with labeled cells highlighted in color, captured at multiple time points. This is the closest we can get to confirming the technology works before moving into human clinical trials.
Cell surface glycans are selectively oxidized, creating reactive sites on the cell membrane without affecting viability or function.
A chelator molecule is covalently bonded to the oxidized glycans, providing a stable anchor for the radiotracer with zero dissociation.
Zirconium-89 is chelated to the cell surface, enabling high-resolution PET imaging for 7+ days with unmatched sensitivity.
Peer-Reviewed Research
Our core technology is published and peer-reviewed in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry · Clemons et al.
Glycan-based mild oxidation and chelator conjugation enables stable ⁸⁹Zr radiolabeling of living cells for high-sensitivity, long-term PET imaging of cell biodistribution in vivo.
Why CellTrack
CellTrack outperforms every existing cell labeling method on every key metric.
150 µCi per million cells vs. 3–30 µCi with competing methods. See what others simply cannot.
Covalent bonding means zero label dissociation. Track cells for over 7 days vs. 2 hours with FDG-based methods.
Cut clinical trial timelines in half. Real-time biodistribution data accelerates go/no-go decisions.
Cell viability and function are fully preserved throughout the labeling process — safe for preclinical and clinical use.
The Team
Built by leaders in medical physics, radiochemistry, and cell biology.
Founder & CEO
Ph.D. Medical Physics, UW-Madison. 10+ years in quantitative medical imaging. Inaugural entrepreneurial postdoctoral fellow at UW-Madison.
Founder & Chief Scientific Advisor
World-renowned radiochemist and inventor of CellTrack's core technology. Assistant Professor at UW-Madison and international thought leader in radiopharmaceutical development.
Contact
Whether you're a pharma company, CDMO, or investor — we'd love to connect. Reach out to learn more about partnering with CellTrack.
contact@celltrackbio.com · Madison, Wisconsin
