AABB interviewed Shabnam Namin, PhD, MBA, president at FerroBio Technologies, a participating organization in the Biotherapies Pavilion at the 2025 AABB Annual Meeting. Read the interview below to learn more about the FerroBio Technologies team.
My name is Shabnam Namin, though most people know me as "Dr. Shab." I'm originally from Miami, Fla., and currently serve as the president of FerroBio Technologies, a role I've held since the company's founding. With a background in biomedical engineering and business, as well as extensive experience in regenerative medicine and biotech, I'm passionate about developing technologies that push the boundaries of both research and clinical innovation.
FerroBio Technologies was founded in 2022 as a subsidiary of 42Bio Inc., born out of a passion to streamline and improve cell isolation technologies. Our flagship product is a magnetic separation platform that isolates CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells from fresh cord blood with exceptional purity and yield. Currently available for research use, our system is fast, simple and technician-friendly - delivering 2.5 times more output per technician compared with traditional systems. We are a small but highly specialized team, focused on advancing hematological and oncological research through precision magnetic technologies. Our mission is to help scientists and clinicians get more value from every donor gift and to accelerate the path to therapeutic discovery.
Our biggest challenge has been entering a space dominated by legacy systems - platforms that have become standard more out of familiarity than performance.
At FerroBio, we knew we had to do more than offer a novel solution - we had to demonstrate superiority where it matters most: purity, potency, consistency and cost-effectiveness. That's why we invested in head-to-head comparisons, including a recent animal study where CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells isolated with our system achieved better engraftment than cells isolated using an industry-standard system.
But the value goes even further. Not only does our platform improve technician throughput - processing up to 10 CBUs per day per technician versus four with traditional systems, but the cells themselves are proving to be more potent and reliable. Better, faster and more consistent engraftment means these cells hold greater therapeutic potential. We like to say that the cells isolated with FerroBio are worth more - clinically and commercially.
By reducing operational complexity, cutting labor costs and delivering higher-quality outputs, we're enabling processors to produce more valuable cell products at a lower overall cost. The result? A smarter, scalable alternative that meets the evolving needs of both researchers and clinicians.
Our main goals this year are to increase adoption of the FerroBio system in both academic and industry research labs and expand our reach through strategic partnerships. We're also supporting preclinical work that evaluates our isolated cells in hematological oncology applications.
Next year, we're aiming to scale manufacturing, pursue regulatory pathways for clinical use and begin exploring additional targets beyond CD34. We're especially excited to see how our platform could reshape workflows for cell therapy development.
This year marks our first time participating in the AABB Annual Meeting, and we're thrilled to be part of it - especially as it coincides with AABB's exciting collaboration with the Cord Blood Association. While we've regularly attended Cord Blood Connect, this joint effort opens the door for us to engage with a broader community, aligned with both our current focus and future vision.
FerroBio's technology is initially designed for isolating CD34+ cells from cord blood, so we deeply value the inclusion of cord blood within the AABB ecosystem. At the same time, we recognize that our platform has the potential to extend into other blood components and applications within the wider biotherapies space. That's why exhibiting in the Biotherapies Pavilion at the AABB Annual Meeting this year is such a great fit; it gives us a chance to showcase our system to stakeholders working across research, clinical development and cell therapy manufacturing.
AABB plays a critical role in setting quality standards, fostering collaboration and helping early-stage innovators like us navigate the regulatory and operational landscape. We see this as the beginning of a meaningful relationship with AABB and its network, and we're excited to contribute to the future of biotherapies together.
We believe the next big development will be increased automation and standardization of upstream cell isolation and handling. As cell and gene therapies scale, the industry will need tools that deliver consistency, reduce variability and are accessible to smaller labs - not just large commercial manufacturers. Platforms like ours can play a key role in delivering high-quality cell processing tools and unlocking new opportunities for innovation and clinical translation.
There's nothing more rewarding than knowing the work we do today could directly impact a patient's future. Whether it's enabling better research or improving transplant outcomes, our efforts have real human meaning. For those just starting in biotherapies: stay close to the science, embrace the complexity, and always keep the patient in mind. This field moves fast, but the best innovations come from those who understand both the technology and the people it's meant to serve.
Register your interest in biotherapies sponsorship and connection packages at the 2025 Annual Meeting, taking place October 25-28, in San Diego, CA.
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