Success Stories
The National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs are an important source of early-stage technology financing for small businesses. The NCI SBIR & STTR Programs foster research and development for anticancer agents, biomarkers, informatics, medical devices, nanotechnology, proteomics, pharmacodynamics, and many other biotechnologies and programs designed to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer.
Click on the links below to learn more about how NCI SBIR & STTR Programs have helped small businesses and how successful SBIR & STTR applicants are using their funding awards to advance cancer research.
NovaRx, a biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego, has used SBIR funding since 2002 to successfully transition its vaccine platform technology from early research in immunogenicity to clinical trials that have shown promising results in non-small-cell lung cancer and other disease areas.
Naviscan, a medical device company based in San Diego, used Phase I and II SBIR funding to bring improved breast cancer imaging technology through the stages of prototype building, clinical trials, and definitive post-marketing trials. The PEM Flex® PET Scanner now allows physicians to visualize breast tumors about the size of a grain of rice.
Awarded more than $4 million to develop a technology platform of safe and effective carriers for therapeutic vaccines based on hemocyanin from the keyhole limpet (KLH) protein.
AntiCancer, the San Diego-based biotechnology company, was awarded Phase I and II SBIR grants and contracts that have led to the commercialization of three cancer research tools: MetaMouse®, AngioMouse®, and OncoBrite®.
Altor BioScience Corporation, a Florida-based biopharmaceutical company, having already received millions in SBIR grant funding, was able to use $3 million in funding from the NCI Bridge Award to support clinical development of ALT-801, an immunotherapeutic for treatment of p53-positive cancers.
Developed LuViva, a non-invasive medical device designed to instantly detect cervical disease in a point-of-care setting with a $2.5 million Bridge Award.
Their MxStructure™ software uses auto-segmentation to better focus radiation treatment and minimize exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. They were acquired by Accuray in 2012.
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) Phase IIB Bridge Award is designed to support the next stage of development for promising NIH-supported SBIR Phase II projects in the areas of cancer therapies, diagnostics, and cancer imaging technologies.