Project Grant R44CA302245
- The federal Project Grant award of $350,000 was provided by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), under the CFDA Program 93.350, to Vivosphere LLC in Auburn, AL. The funding will support the development of "Vivospheres", which are tissue-engineered spheroidal models for high-throughput screening. The project aims to establish Vivospheres as a more consistent and flexible 3D cell culture system compared to traditional self-aggregation methods, enabling...
- This STTR Phase I Project Grant, awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program, is funding the development of a novel tissue-engineered platform for cancer modeling and drug screening. The $275,000 award to Vivosphere LLC will be used to create a more physiologically relevant and versatile high-throughput screening model that can improve the translation rate between preclinical and clinical testing of anti-cancer...
- The National Cancer Institute awarded Vivid Bioinnovations, PBC $306,872 on August 7, 2026, under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394) to develop CAGES (Cell Assemblies in Gel Enclosures), an ultrahigh-throughput platform for screening chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies. The platform encapsulates millions of defined CAR-T and cancer cell interactions in biocompatible gel shells, enabling parallel assay of multi-day co-cultures with direct...
- Federal Project Grant Award Summary Vivere Oncotherapies, Inc. received a $306,871 Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute under the Cancer Treatment Research program (CFDA 93.395) on September 5, 2025, to support the clinical translation of OV-151, an evolved oncolytic virotherapy product for colorectal cancer treatment. The award funds three primary research objectives: characterizing the delivery properties of the lead clinical vector to tumors in both in vitro and in vivo...
- The National Cancer Institute, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, awarded Vortex Therapeutics Inc. $3.347 million on September 12, 2025, under the Cancer Treatment Research program (CFDA 93.395) to develop small-molecule MYC inhibitors for cancer therapy. The recipient is developing direct small-molecule inhibitors targeting MYC proteins (C-MYC, N-MYC, and L-MYC), which are oncogenic drivers implicated in at least 70 percent of all human cancers and are particularly...
- The National Cancer Institute awarded Plantiosx Inc. $406,500 under the Small Business Innovation Research program on September 1, 2026, to develop manufacturing infrastructure for cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) intratumoral immunotherapy in solid tumors. The award funds Phase I research to advance CPMV toward clinical trials for cancer treatment. Plantiosx will establish a qualified cowpea seed bank—certified, tested for viral infectivity and contamination, and stored as traceable sub-lots—to serve...
- The National Cancer Institute awarded the President and Fellows of Harvard College $604,102 on May 1, 2026, under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394) to develop bioprinted three-dimensional vascular cancer models that enable study of T cell trafficking, dendritic cell engagement, and tumor cell killing within human and murine tumor microenvironments. The recipient will use microporous embedded printing to fabricate in vitro models incorporating vascular conduits for...
- The National Science Foundation awarded Caleo Biotechnologies, Inc. $289,435 on July 1, 2026, under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) to develop patient-derived, multicellular tissue models for studying colitis-associated colorectal cancer. The project will generate self-assembling tissue systems that integrate epithelial, stromal, and immune compartments to reproduce inflammation-driven tumor initiation and early progression. The models aim to reduce...
- Visikol Inc. received a $4,103,265 Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394). The award will support the development of a 3D imaging diagnostic tool to improve characterization of metastatic melanoma in sentinel lymph node biopsies. Visikol will conduct a retrospective clinical study using archived negative sentinel lymph node biopsy tissue blocks to...
- The National Cancer Institute awarded Matrisome Bio, Inc. $3,481,203 on September 23, 2025, under the Cancer Treatment Research program (CFDA 93.395) to develop an extracellular matrix-targeted theranostic radiopharmaceutical for metastatic lung cancer. Matrisome Bio is developing molecularly targeted drugs based on nanobodies that specifically target disease-associated extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins highly expressed in lung cancer and other cancer indications while minimally expressed in...
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.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $350.0k | 7/27/26 |