Spatial biology can show a great deal about a tissue sample. It links molecular features to cell function and tissue structure. Turning those image datasets into biological answers is still slow, expensive and dependent on specialist skills. In this Spotlight On, we look at Katana Labs, a German software company featured in our run-up to Oxford Global's Biomarkers, CDx & Precision Medicine Europe in Basel.
Katana Labs is working on a specific question: how do you turn complex spatial image data into biological insight without every scientist having to become a bioinformatician?
Why spatial biology analysis is a bottleneck
Spatial biology draws on several disciplines and several tools, and the equipment is costly. Even labs with data science, biology and bioinformatics expertise run into the same problems:
Heavy computing demands for very large image files.
Analysis split across separate steps and tools.
Workflows that need extensive configuration before any biology can be explored.
Limited access to the compute, storage and tools needed to share and work on large image datasets.
The result is that richer data doesn't always lead to clearer answers. Katana Labs' view is that adding more automation isn't enough. Scientists need to be able to skip the pipeline configuration and go straight to the biology.
About Katana Labs
Katana Labs is based in Dresden, Germany. It's a software engineering, AI and data analytics company focused on image and data analysis for spatial biology and spatial omics. Its cloud-based platform, Katana Edge, brings its own AI tools into one environment, alongside specialist spatial analysis services. Its next product, the Data Agent, is due to launch in December.
What sets Katana Labs apart?
AI built for spatial biology. Katana Labs isn't putting a general-purpose language model on top of customer data. It combines machine learning and deep learning for image processing with agentic AI for data analysis, using curated, validated tools designed for spatial workflows.
A team that builds the methods. The team covers life sciences, precision oncology, AI, data science, software engineering, computational biology, bioinformatics and digital pathology. Team members have contributed to image analysis tools including StarDist, Spotiflow and MuViT.
Not tied to one instrument. Katana Edge supports data from different imaging devices, so teams can work across instruments and datasets in one place.
Software, services or both. Researchers can use the platform themselves, bring in Katana's specialists, or combine the two.
The platform: Katana Edge
Katana Edge is a browser-based platform, with computing handled in the cloud. Teams can run advanced image analysis without building their own local IT infrastructure.
Automated workflows covering QA/QC, cell segmentation, feature extraction, phenotyping and spatial analysis.
Analysis at scale, including a 200-plex whole-slide image of around 1.7 terapixels, and segmentation of around 3 million cells in a single whole-slide mIF image.
Standardised workflows that make results easier to reproduce and compare across cohorts, assays, sites and timepoints.
Support for multiple imaging devices.
New analysis methods that can be applied to datasets organisations already hold.
For different organisations, that means:
Pharma and biotech: one workspace for image analysis pipelines that can be reused across programmes and studies.
CROs: more staff time for wet-lab validation and data generation.
Core facilities and research institutions: the ability to take on ambitious research questions without large teams or IT budgets.
Applications include biomarker discovery and validation, clinical development, patient stratification and translational research.
The Data Agent: launching in December
Katana Labs is currently alpha-testing its agentic AI system for spatial biology. The first feature, the Data Agent, is planned for December.
Instead of navigating dashboards, writing code, choosing methods and configuring each step, researchers ask their biological question in plain language and the system guides the analysis. Scientists bring their expertise and questions. The Agent adds domain knowledge, tools and reproducible workflows.
The aim is to support scientists rather than replace them. Researchers can still check how an answer was reached, rather than relying on a black box. Katana sums up the workflow as: upload, conversation, discover.
Specialist analysis services
Alongside the software, Katana Labs offers spatial image and data analysis services. These range from building AI models for feature extraction to custom analysis workflows across spatial proteomics, spatial transcriptomics, multiplex imaging, FISH and IHC.
Why it matters for spatial biology
Spatial biology can now produce far more data than most teams can analyse. Studies with tens of tissue microarrays or hundreds of whole-slide images can run to terabytes and take months to work through using separate tools.
Katana expects its system to handle studies of that size in days. If that holds, spatial readouts become far more practical for biomarker work and clinical development, not just research.
What it means for hiring
Companies bringing AI into spatial biology need leaders who understand the science, the software and the customer. Few people have all three, and tools companies, pharma and CROs are all looking for them. Senior roles in this space include:
Heads of spatial biology and computational pathology who can set scientific direction and lead mixed technical teams.
CTOs and AI leaders who can build domain-specific AI that scientists trust.
Product leaders who can turn complex analysis into software non-specialists can use.
Commercial leaders who can sell platforms and services into pharma, biotech, CROs and academic research.
What's next for Katana Labs
The Data Agent is due to launch in December, and a waiting list of prospective users, including larger organisations, is already forming. Katana Labs planned to show the first capabilities of its agentic system at Biomarkers, CDx & Precision Medicine Europe in Basel in October.
You can find out more about Katana Edge and the team's analysis services, and register for the Data Agent demo and early-access programme, at Katana Labs' website.
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At Invenia Search, we work with the founders, boards and executive teams running life sciences businesses, and with the senior leaders they bring in to grow them.
We handle senior and executive appointments across life sciences, including spatial biology, digital pathology and AI-driven research software. That covers tools companies scaling up, and pharma, biotech and CRO teams building their own computational capability. If your next hire needs to combine science, technology and commercial experience, that's the kind of search we do.
Planning a senior hire, or want to know what the talent market looks like in your area? Speak to our life sciences team for a confidential conversation.
