Cambridge, UK – 6th July 2026: bit.bio, the Cambridge-based human cell programming company, has today announced the launch of two new cell culture media kits designed to make human cell-based research significantly more accessible and affordable for laboratories worldwide.
Developed for use with bit.bio's human iPSC-derived ioGlutamatergic Neurons and ioMicroglia, the easy-to-use media kits remove one of the major practical barriers to adopting human cells by providing researchers with a simple, standardised and cost-effective culture solution to make it easier for them to get started.
Until now, laboratories wanting to prepare equivalent media themselves have typically needed to source and optimise multiple individual components, creating a costly and time-consuming process. By comparison, bit.bio's media kits reduce media costs by around 18-fold while requiring only a small number of additional reagents, making human cell culture significantly more accessible and easier to adopt.
As demand grows for more predictive, reproducible and human-relevant research models, many scientists are looking to move beyond traditional preclinical approaches, including animal models. However, the cost, technical expertise and time required to establish human cell-based workflows have remained significant barriers for many laboratories.
By simplifying cell culture while substantially reducing the cost of media preparation, bit.bio is helping more researchers access programmed human iPSC-derived cells for disease modelling, target discovery and drug development.
“Researchers increasingly recognise the scientific advantages of human cells, but practical barriers have slowed wider adoption," said Emma Pepperell, CEO of bit.bio. “Our mission is to democratise access to human cells. Our new media kits make it significantly easier and more affordable for laboratories to get started with consistent, human-relevant models without the complexity and cost traditionally associated with preparing specialist media from scratch.”
Powered by bit.bio's patented opti-ox™ deterministic cell programming technology, ioCells are highly consistent, reproducible human iPSC-derived cells that enable the generation of reliable, human-relevant data across experiments and between laboratories. The accompanying media kits have been specifically developed to provide the optimised culture conditions required to maximise performance while simplifying laboratory workflows, enabling scientists to culture cells for up to 14 days post-thaw.
The ioGlutamatergic Neurons Media Kit supports the rapid generation of mature, functional excitatory neurons suitable for applications including neuroscience research, disease modelling and drug discovery, while the ioMicroglia Media Kit enables researchers to culture functional human microglia for investigating neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Together, the kits further support bit.bio's mission to democratise access to human cells and accelerate the transition towards New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), helping researchers generate more reproducible, human-relevant data while reducing reliance on traditional preclinical models.
Find out more about ioCells Media Kits
.png)