Senticell wins NCI grant to test red blood cell lung cancer biopsy
What's the deal? SenticellDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Philadelphia biotechnology company, has won a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I grant from the National Cancer InstituteDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to advance its red blood cell-based liquid biopsy for early-stage lung cancer. The non-dilutive federal award will fund preclinical and clinical work with the University of PennsylvaniaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → as a sub-awardee.
What's the endgame? Senticell is developing a new class of liquid biopsy built on red blood cell (RBC)-bound tumor DNA, which research suggests may be more stable and abundant than the circulating tumor DNA found in plasma-based tests. Its stated vision is to build an RBC-based diagnostics platform starting in oncology and extending to other disease areas.
What's the money for? The grant funds two research aims: characterising how red blood cells acquire and retain tumor DNA in murine models, then evaluating RBC-based mutation detection in 100 patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Why now? Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and no liquid biopsy test currently guides clinical decisions in early-stage disease. The grant complements a recent seed financing, chief executive officer Neha Shah said.
"This STTR award is an important validation of our science from one of the most rigorous review processes in government funding," Shah said. She added that it lets the company "move faster on the specific data package that matters most to clinicians and regulators."
The technology originates from research by Dr. Nilam Mangalmurti at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine. "Our preliminary work suggests red blood cells may retain tumor DNA longer and in greater abundance than plasma," she said. Senticell holds an exclusive, worldwide license to the platform from the University of Pennsylvania.
What's the endgame beyond Phase I? The findings are intended to lay the groundwork for a multi-center clinical validation study and support a regulatory path toward FDA marketing authorization.
The signal: Non-dilutive federal grants remain a key funding lever for early-stage diagnostics companies chasing biomarkers that plasma-based tests miss — extending runway while validating the underlying science.
Read more: pr.holladayjournal.com
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