Parhelia Biosciences

Parhelia Biosciences is a private, commercial-stage company providing an integral automation solution for spatial biology workflows. Founded in 2018 and based in San Diego, the company addresses critical pain points in spatial biology labs—including manual labor, assay variability, and reagent waste—with its Spatial Station instrument and Skylab reagent kits. Its technology is chemistry-agnostic and supports a wide range of applications from dewaxing and antigen retrieval to panel mixing for high-plex protein and RNA assays, positioning it as a workflow enabler for the rapidly growing spatial biology market.

The Spatial Station: a benchtop instrument automating spatial biology sample prep via uniform capillary gap staining, precision temperature control (0-100°C), automated panel mixing, and chemistry-agnostic protocol execution. Supported by Skylab reagent kits and an intuitive touchscreen interface for protocol building.

Direct competition in the niche of integrated automation for high-plex spatial biology is currently limited. Parhelia competes against manual processes and standalone pieces of equipment (e.g., water baths, manual slide stainers). Broader competition comes from companies offering automated IHC stainers (e.g., Roche Ventana, Leica, Agilent), but these are often optimized for lower-plex clinical workflows and may not support the complex, multi-cycle protocols required for assays like CODEX/PCF.