Deep Creek Pharma wins $100K state grant for colorectal cancer treatment

What's the deal? Deep Creek PharmaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a small business in Yadkinville, North Carolina, has received a $100,000 grant to develop a nanoscale material for oncology treatments. The award targets metastatic colorectal cancer, which has a low survival rate under current treatments.

Who's behind it? The grant comes through the One North Carolina Small Business Program, administered by the North Carolina Department of CommerceDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → on behalf of the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology & Innovation. The treatment will be developed and tested with Wake Forest University Health SciencesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, in an STTR project sponsored by the National Institutes of HealthDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.

Why now? Deep Creek Pharma is one of 46 North Carolina businesses that shared over $2.4 million across 50 grants in the state's 2026 fiscal year, which ended June 30. The awards spanned 13 counties and industries from pharmaceuticals to defence, seafood production, and space.

By the numbers: Deep Creek Pharma's $100,000 award sits in the smaller tier of deals we track — around the 35th percentile by size. That reflects the round's role: state money filling early-stage gaps, not a headline venture raise.

How it works: The One North Carolina program awards grants to small businesses that win the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Those federal initiatives, known as America's Seed Fund, distribute over $4 billion annually across 11 agencies. Since 2006, the state program has used them to help local firms navigate early growth.

The signal: Public money remains a key bridge for deep-tech and life-science startups too early for private capital. North Carolina is betting that small, targeted grants can turn lab research into commercial products — and, per Governor Josh Stein, into "new products, new companies, and new jobs."

Read more: yadkinripple.com

Image credit: National Institutes of Health (NIH)