Vivosphere as an oncology platform for colorectal cancer modeling and drug screening

The National Cancer Institute awarded Vivosphere LLC $350,000 on August 1, 2026, under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394) for development of vivospheres as an oncology platform for colorectal cancer modeling and drug screening.

Vivospheres are cell-laden hydrogel microspheres produced using a patented microfluidic encapsulation platform to create physiologically relevant, high-throughput screening-adaptable three-dimensional cancer models. Unlike existing commercial models, vivospheres provide control over tumor microenvironment, improved consistency in tissue size and shape, and support for co-encapsulation of stromal cell components. The project will develop colorectal cancer-specific vivosphere models, optimize high-throughput screening assays, and generate patient-derived xenograft tumors in mouse models as benchmarks to evaluate the vivosphere model's ability to recapitulate in vivo tumor biology. The goal is to establish vivosphere as a complex in vitro platform that can reduce, refine, and ultimately replace animal models in cancer drug discovery.

The award is a Project Grant under the SBIR program, classified as assistance funding. Performance of work takes place in Auburn, Alabama, with a period of performance from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2027.

Abstract

The development of three-dimensional (3D) disease models has paved the way for accelerated design, discovery, and validation of potential targets and drug compounds, thereby significantly reducing the time, cost, and labor involved in the drug discovery pipeline. 3D cancer models, such as self-aggregated spheroids, cancer organoids, and organ chips, have been established as more accurate and predictive than two-dimensional (2D) models for drug screening. However, current commercial 3D cancer models either lack control over tumor microenvironment (TME) or suffer from low consistency and throughput. This makes vivosphere a breakthrough product. Vivospheres are developed as a more physiologically relevant and high-throughput screening (HTS)-adaptable model. They are cell-laden hydrogel microspheres that are produced rapidly using our patented microfluidic encapsulation platform, making them a much higher throughput model than organ chips. The incorporation of hydrogel matrices in vivospheres can improve the consistency of tissues in size and shape, which is critical in obtaining high-quality results in HTS, and provide the ability to manipulate the TME, an important driver of appropriate cell phenotype and function. Compared to self-aggregation systems, vivosphere models support either aggregating or non-aggregating cells, and allow for CO-encapsulation of stromal cell component, which is lacking in organoid model. This project will develop more pathophysiologically relevant vivospheres for colorectal cancer disease modeling and optimize key assays used in HTS. Patient-derived xenograft tumors will be generated using a mouse model as a benchmark to evaluate the vivosphere model's ability to recapitulate in vivo tumor biology. The overarching goal of this project is to establish vivosphere as a complex in vitro platform that can reduce, refine, and ultimately replace animal use in preclinical cancer research. The outcome of this project will remove potential roadblocks to building disease-specific models for HTS.