Project Grant R43CA246941

This Cooperative Agreement award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research) provides $690,637 to the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope to develop and validate a minimally invasive, highly sensitive, and cost-effective blood-based test for the early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The test will harness the potential of 5-methylcytosine (5MC) and 5-hydroxy methylcytosine (5HMC) DNA modifications on circulating...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research) provides $405,973 to Intus Biosciences LLC (DBA Shoreline Biome LLC) to develop and validate a novel non-invasive, high-throughput fecal microbiome-based screening platform for the detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) and advanced adenoma (AA) precancerous lesions. The platform, called TITAN-1, utilizes machine learning to analyze fecal samples collected at home, with the goal of...

This Cooperative Agreement award, funded by the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research), supports research to develop a non-invasive blood test for multi-cancer detection and determination of tissue of origin preceding overt cancer diagnosis. The $692,491 award, effective May 1, 2025 through April 30, 2030, will allow the University of Chicago to explore cancer-specific early epigenetic marks in circulating cell-free DNA and develop a highly sensitive...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research) provides $1,021,347 to Vigilant Laboratories LLC to develop a low-cost, point-of-care early detection test for oral cancer in low-resource settings. The key products to be delivered include: Prototypes of test strips for three biomarkers (CD44, total protein, and p16) to enable a commercializable point-of-care test. Vigilant Laboratories will work with a manufacturing partner,...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research) provides $399,153 to Alelopharma Inc. to develop an ultra-sensitive molecular diagnostic platform for detecting EML4-ALK gene fusions in non-small cell lung cancer patients. The objective is to create a blood-based "liquid biopsy" test that can accurately identify ALK-positive lesions, which respond well to targeted cancer therapies, without the need for tissue re-biopsy....

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $1,250,000 Cooperative Agreement under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program to Nexgen Cancer Detection LLC. The funding will be used to improve and validate a method for diagnosing cancer earlier through a simple blood draw. The project aims to enrich cancer DNA from blood samples to enable highly sensitive and accurate cancer detection, which could lead to earlier cancer diagnosis and treatment, improved patient...

The National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research) awarded a $670,534 Project Grant to Northwestern University to develop an optical hyperspectral nanoscale chromatin analysis technology for colorectal cancer risk stratification. The goal is to create a screening test to identify patients who harbor advanced adenomas and should undergo colonoscopy, with a target of 99.5% negative predictive value, 95% sensitivity, and 80% specificity for advanced adenomas....

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded a $399,816 Project Grant to Xgenomes Corp., a minority-owned biotechnology company in Cambridge, MA, under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research (CFDA 93.394) federal grant program. The purpose of the 1-year project is to further develop Xgenomes' novel DNA analysis platform that can directly measure both genetic mutations and epigenetic methylation changes with over 100x greater accuracy than current next-generation sequencing methods. The...

This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.394 - Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research) provides $399,998 to Darwin Biosciences, Inc. to develop a low-cost, handheld, and non-invasive lung cancer screening device for use in low-resource settings. The device will incorporate sample collection, nucleic acid biomarker detection via isothermal recombinase polymerase amplification, and a visual readout on lateral flow strips. This work builds on Darwin Biosciences' prior...

This $399,499 Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394), supports the development of Liquid Biotech's TELOMESCAN circulating tumor cell (CTC) assay for monitoring non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients undergoing radiation and immunotherapy. The key products and services to be delivered through this funding include: 1) Developing a clinical prototype of the TELOMESCAN assay with automated analysis to...