Opsin lands $2.35M NIH grant to replace pain implants with light
What's the deal? Opsin BiotherapeuticsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has won a two-year, $2.35 million Phase II SBIR grant from the National Institutes of HealthDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to advance a non-viral optogenetic therapy for chronic pain. The grant, titled "Optogenetic Neuromodulation for Chronic Pain," came from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and StrokeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The Bedford, Texas company announced the award on October 1, 2026.
What's the endgame? Opsin is building a cell-selective alternative to electrical spinal cord stimulation, which can cause side effects and lacks cell-level precision. Its platform introduces specific DNA into pain-blocking neurons, then activates them with low-power red light to modulate pain signals. Selectivity comes from which neurons express the opsin, not the shape of an electrical field.
How it works: The delivery method combines functionalised gold nanorods with low-powered near-infrared light, skipping the viral vector used in AAV-based gene therapies. That non-viral approach aims to avoid immunogenicity, pre-existing-antibody exclusion criteria, and redosing constraints — preserving the option of repeat administration.
Why now? The Phase II award follows completed Phase I milestones that the company says showed the promise of light-based gene therapy for chronic pain. The grant is non-dilutive funding to push the program toward clinical development.
What's next? Opsin will use the award for IND-enabling work, advancing the therapy toward the clinic. Its broader goal is highly targeted, device-activated biologics for chronic and severe pain.
The company was formed as a joint venture between Samarendra Mohanty of Nanoscope TechnologiesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Robert Benkowski of DesignPlex BiomedicalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, who connected at a North Texas medical technology event. The pair combined gene therapy research with medical device engineering.
The signal: Benkowski, chief executive officer, said the company wants to bring a "fundamentally different control mechanism" to pain treatment — one that merges gene therapy with device-style activation rather than refining electrical stimulation. The federal grant lands in the upper third of comparable awards by size, giving Opsin external validation for a therapy that sits between two established fields.
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Image credit: Generated with Gemini
