NVIGEN — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase II: NCI

Description

The goal of the research is to develop a highly accurateautomatedand low cost ctDNA test to monitor efficacy of treatment of metastatic breast cancer patients by identifying the emergence of certain DNA mutations in plasma samplesThere is growing evidence that the presence of certain DNA mutations in the blood stream correlates with breast cancer becoming resistance to hormone treatmentNVIGEN will develop a test that can detect the emergence of these DNA mutations early enough so that Physicians can prescribe a more effective treatment to improve patient outcomeThe test involves captureing DNA from the plasma portion of blood samples using NVIGEN s proprietary molecularly engineered magnetic nanoparticles combined with highly sensitive target enrichment of specific DNA mutation in an automated workflowDuring the proposed programNVIGEN will optimize the workflowconfirm the test s ability to detect multiple relevant DNA mutationsand conduct clinical validations to verify that the DNA mutations detected by the test correlate with efficacy of treatment providing a basis for physicians to select more effective treatments for breast cancer patientsThis test will not only help breast cancer patients but the technology can also be extended for a broad range of other cancer types