Whole blood preservation for clinical trials

TokuKit

Preserve immune cell populations and functional marker subsets for up to 24 months.

A three-step, centrifuge-free process that can be done at any global trial site.

6,000+
TokuKits shipped
100+
Trial sites worldwide
TokuKit kit components on a lab bench
Fixation concordance

Summary only — explore every population in Claim 1 below.  

Fresh vs fixed · population frequencies

Mass cytometry

r = 0.998

n = 3 donors · 37 populations · pooled r

Spectral flow

r = 0.98

n = 3 donors · 38 populations · pooled r

Long-term stability

Mass cytometry · stable up to 24 months

Spectral flow · stable up to 6 months

Stability vs baseline · population frequencies

Mass cytometry · M24

r = 0.998

M24 vs M00 · n = 3 donors · 36 populations · median r

Spectral flow · M06

r = 0.998

M06 vs M00 · n = 3 donors · 35 populations · median r

Claim 1

Fixation does not alter marker expression.

Fixation concordance stays high across measured immune populations, with pooled Pearson r of 0.998 for mass cytometry and 0.98 for spectral flow versus paired fresh specimens.

Claim 2

Fixed specimens stay stable for months, not days.

Specimens hold within 3% CV at -80°C for 24 months on mass cytometry and 6 months on spectral flow, allowing retrospective batches across every trial timepoint.

TokuKit validated antibody clones

Which antibody clones are compatible with TokuKit?

Teiko titrated each clone on this list using staining index, arcsinh ratio, positive/negative separation, and spillover into neighboring channels.

See it at the bench

TokuKit collection protocol

This protocol can be done at any clinical trial site. See it in action.

3-step preservation

Collect, fix, and store

Collect blood

Collect at least 2 mL of blood into a 4 mL vacutainer at the clinical site and invert 10×.

Fix sample

Transfer 2 mL of blood to Buffer 1; incubate at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Store in freezer

Transfer entire blood mixture from Buffer 1 to Buffer 2; store at −80°C or ship on dry ice.

Using TokuKit

Can clinical sites actually do this?

Handled like PK and ADA samples in your lab manual — PPE only, no special equipment. Works with central labs including ICON, PPD, and LabCorp.

PPE only at collectionUS · EU · Australia · ChinaCentral lab compatible
What if we can’t add fixative right away?
Blood can stay in the collection vacutainer at room temperature for up to 9 hours (EDTA) or 5 hours (Sodium Heparin) before fixative is added.
View EDTA / Heparin hold-time data ↓

“This is [like] the other samples that are being handled per Lab Manual — PK samples, ADA samples, etc., where tube is spun and serum transferred out and aliquoted.”

— Translational scientist, publicly traded immunotherapy company

Can TokuKit measure absolute cell counts?

Yes. Teiko integrates complete blood counts from your central lab with cytometry data from TokuKit-fixed samples to calculate absolute cell counts.

1
Collect two aliquots of blood
One sample is preserved with TokuKit for cytometry, while the other is kept fresh for hemoanalysis.
2
Process aliquots separately
Fresh sample to central lab for leukocytes per µL; TokuKit-fixed sample to Teiko for cytometry.
3
We integrate the data
Population frequencies × leukocytes per µL → absolute cell counts on your dashboard.
TokuKit

Documentation

Instruction manuals, safety data sheets, and regulatory documentation.