ACEA BIO

Name

ACEA BIO

Legal name

ACEA Biosciences

Website

https://aceabio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

ACEA Biosciences, founded in 2002 in San Diego, develops NovoCyte flow cytometers and xCELLigence biosensor-based real-time cell analysis instruments. Acquired by Agilent Technologies in 2020, the company serves pharma, biotech, academic, and CRO customers in immunotherapy, virology, and drug discovery applications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Flow Cytometry and Real-Time Cell Analysis Instruments

NAICS

Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (3345)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826)

akta.pro primary industry

Microscopy, Imaging & Flow Cytometry Instruments (HLAGAIAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cell-Based & Potency Assays (Bioassays) (HLAGADAH), Biosensors & Lab-on-Chip (BioMEMS) (HDAHALAK)

Keywords

• Flow cytometry instruments
• Real-time cell analysis
• Label-free cell monitoring
• Cell biology research tools
• Preclinical drug discovery instruments

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Instrument Sales: Sale of flow cytometry instruments (NovoCyte series) and real-time cell analysis instruments (xCELLigence RTCA series). These are capital equipment purchases for research laboratories.
2. Software Licenses: NovoExpress Software for flow cytometry data acquisition and analysis, and xCELLigence RTCA software for cell monitoring.
3. Reagents and Consumables: Sale of reagents, kits, and accessories for flow cytometry and RTCA applications.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ACEA BIO develops, manufactures, and commercializes high-performance microelectronic instrumentation for cell-based assays, centered on two technology platforms: the NovoCyte family of flow cytometers (Penteon, Quanteon, Advanteon, and base models) for multi-color fluorescence analysis, and the xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analysis (RTCA) instruments (eSight, Cardio, CardioECR, MP) for continuous, label-free monitoring of cell behavior via biosensor impedance. The company sells these capital instruments together with dedicated software (NovoExpress) and recurring consumables (reagents, kits, E-Plates) to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic research institutions, and contract research organizations.

Product overview

ACEA Biosciences, now part of Agilent, provides two main technology platforms: NovoCyte flow cytometers and xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analysis (RTCA) instruments. The NovoCyte platform includes multiple flow cytometer models (Penteon, Quanteon, Advanteon, and standard NovoCyte) with varying laser configurations (1-5 lasers, up to 30 fluorescence channels), supported by NovoExpress software and flow cytometry reagents. The xCELLigence RTCA platform offers real-time, label-free cell analysis using biosensor technology, including specialized instruments for cardio research (Cardio, CardioECR), imaging capabilities (eSight), and high-throughput applications (MP). Both platforms serve research applications in immunotherapy, infectious disease/virology, and drug discovery/safety toxicology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NovoCyte Flow Cytometers: High quality flow cytometers including Penteon (up to 5 lasers), Quanteon (4 lasers), Advanteon (1-3 lasers), and NovoCyte (1-3 lasers), with NovoExpress Software.
• xCELLigence Real-Time Cell Analysis (RTCA)

Products and services

• NovoCyte Penteon Flow Cytometer High-end flow cytometer with up to 5 lasers and 30 fluorescence channels for multi-color flow cytometry assays, designed for researchers needing high flexibility, high throughput, and high quality data with smart-design functionalities and intuitive NovoExpress software.
• NovoCyte Quanteon Flow Cytometer Flow cytometer equipped with 4 lasers for multi-color analysis applications, offering high quality data in an easy-to-use platform for research laboratories.
• NovoCyte Advanteon Flow Cytometer Flow cytometer with 1-3 lasers providing flexibility for various flow cytometry experimental needs in research settings.
• NovoCyte Flow Cytometer Entry-level flow cytometer with 1-3 lasers offering high quality data acquisition and analysis for research laboratories.
• xCELLigence RTCA eSight Real-time cell analysis instrument combining impedance monitoring with live cell imaging to capture sensitive changes in cell behavior in a label-free manner, eliminating the need to combine multiple assays and timepoints.
• xCELLigence RTCA Cardio Real-time cell analysis instrument for monitoring cardiomyocyte contractility, viability, and field potential for cardiovascular research and safety toxicology applications.
• xCELLigence RTCA CardioECR Real-time cell analysis instrument combining cardiomyocyte monitoring with extracellular recordings for comprehensive cardiac safety assessment in drug discovery and safety toxicology.
• xCELLigence RTCA MP Multi-plate real-time cell analysis system for high-throughput monitoring of cell behavior in label-free assays across 96-well plates.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Agilent TechnologiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2020ACEA Biosciences officially joined the Agilent family on September 1st, 2020, becoming part of Agilent's Diagnostics and Genomics group. This acquisition combined ACEA's flow cytometry and real-time live cell analysis expertise with Agilent's broader laboratory instrumentation portfolio. ACEA continues to provide NovoCyte flow cytometers and xCELLigence RTCA solutions to support customers under the Agilent brand.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sartorius (Incucyte / Essen BioScience): Sartorius's Incucyte live-cell analysis platform is the most direct competitor to xCELLigence RTCA in label-free, real-time cell monitoring for immuno-oncology, viability, and proliferation workflows. Both companies target the same drug discovery and safety toxicology end users.
• Nexcelom Bioscience (Revvity): Nexcelom's Cellometer and Celigo automated cell counters and image cytometers compete with ACEA in cell viability, concentration, and basic flow-cytometry-adjacent assays. It was acquired by PerkinElmer (now Revvity) in 2018.
• Sony Biotechnology: Sony Biotechnology's SH800 and MA900 cell sorters and flow cytometers directly compete in research flow cytometry. Sony leverages its imaging and electronics expertise to compete on instrument design and ease of use, much like ACEA's NovoCyte positioning.
• Cytek Biosciences: Cytek specializes in spectral flow cytometry with its Aurora and Northern Lights instruments and a full reagent ecosystem. It is the closest direct competitor to ACEA's NovoCyte platform, particularly in the multi-color, high-channel segment of the research flow cytometry market.

Broad incumbents

• Revvity (formerly PerkinElmer): Revvity's life-sciences franchise includes Nexcelom cell counting and a broad cell-analysis reagent and instrument portfolio. It overlaps with ACEA on consumables, imaging reagents, and cell-based assay workflows across pharma and academic customers.
• Molecular Devices (Danaher): Molecular Devices produces high-content screening and kinetic plate-reader systems (ImageXpress, SpectraMax) used for live-cell imaging and kinetic cell-based assays. It competes with xCELLigence RTCA in drug discovery screening and safety toxicology applications.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Thermo Fisher offers the Attune NxT flow cytometer alongside a massive life-sciences instrument, reagent, and software portfolio. It competes with ACEA across both flow cytometry and cell-analysis use cases in drug discovery and translational research.
• Beckman Coulter Life Sciences (Danaher): Beckman Coulter's CytoFLEX, Navios, and DxFLEX flow cytometers compete directly with NovoCyte. As part of Danaher's life-sciences platform, Beckman benefits from cross-portfolio leverage and a global commercial footprint that ACEA cannot match independently.
• BD Biosciences: BD Biosciences is the largest flow cytometry franchise (BD FACSDiscover, BD CellView, FACSChorus) and serves the same pharma, biotech, and academic customers as ACEA, but with a far broader portfolio including cell sorters, antibodies, and clinical diagnostics.

Emerging players

• NanoEntek: NanoEntek provides automated cell counting and live-cell imaging instruments (EVE, Countess-style platforms) used in basic research and bioprocessing. It overlaps with ACEA's general cell-analysis use cases and represents an emerging competitor in compact, lower-cost cell analysis instruments.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aceabiosciences
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/AgilentTechnologies
• Facebookfacebook.com/Agilent
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/agilent

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ACEA BIO