Marker Therapeutics Inc.

Marker Therapeutics Inc., a small disadvantaged business based in Houston, Texas, is a clinical-stage immunotherapy developer that acts as a prime recipient of federal research grants focused on patient-derived, multi-tumor-associated-antigen (MTAA)-specific T-cell therapies for hematologic and solid malignancies. The vendor does not hold federal contracts; its entire recent federal footprint consists of six research grants (100% prime recipient awards) totaling $15.7 million, all performance-based and research-driven rather than service delivery.

The company's grant portfolio concentrates with three federal agencies across 2022–2026: the National Cancer Institute under the Department of Health and Human Services (4 awards), the Defense Health Agency (1 award), and the FDA (1 award). The National Cancer Institute has funded four project grants focused on Marker's lead candidate MT-601, a multi-antigen T-cell product targeting pancreatic cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. A representative example is a September 2024 Phase 1 grant from NCI evaluating MT-601 combined with front-line FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy in metastatic pancreatic cancer patients, with performance through August 2028. A second NCI grant (August 2024, $15.7 million cumulative) funds a Phase 1 study in relapsed non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients who have failed CAR-T therapy, targeting six tumor-associated antigens (PRAME, NY-ESO1, SURVIVIN, MAGE-A4, SSX2, WT1). A third NCI grant (June 2024) supports a dual-product strategy combining MT-601 with a decoy-producing T-cell product to overcome immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments in pancreatic cancer. The Defense Health Agency awarded $4.17 million on August 15, 2026, under the Military Medical Research and Development program (CFDA 12.420) to conduct a Phase 2 clinical trial of MT-601 in relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, with performance through August 2028. Marker also holds an earlier NCI grant (August 2023) advancing MT-401, a multi-antigen T-cell therapy for acute myeloid leukemia post-stem-cell transplant. A second AML program grant (September 2022) from the FDA's Office of Medical Products and Tobacco evaluated MT-401 efficacy in AML patients with minimal residual disease following allogeneic stem-cell transplant, completing December 2027.

All six awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating immediate recompete exposure. Activity has grown from one award in 2022 to three in 2024, with the most recent Defense Health Agency award arriving in August 2026. Marker does not appear in the federal contracting ecosystem — no IDIQs, no task-order vehicles, no service contracts, no sub awards. The company operates exclusively as a clinical-research grant recipient developing proprietary cell-therapy intellectual property through federal R&D funding.