Embolx Announces SBIR Grant for Phase II Development of Pressure-Directed Embolization Therapy
April 12, 2018—Embolx, Inc. recently announced that the company has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant valued at $2 million from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The SBIR grant will fund further research and development of Embolx’s future-generation Sniper balloon occlusion microcatheter system for pressure-directed embolization therapy.
According to the company, the Sniper balloon occlusion microcatheter alters blood flow dynamics by controlling pressure to increase therapeutic agent delivery into target areas for the treatment of cancerous tumors, benign prostatic hyperplasia, and uterine fibroids. This therapy allows interventional radiologists to deliver drugs and embolic agents to only targeted treatment areas while protecting surrounding healthy tissues.
The phase 2 portion of the grant will build on completed work done in phase 1 to develop an advanced generation of the Sniper microcatheter. This device will allow interventional radiologists to monitor pressure in the vicinity of a tumor, tracking embolization progress in real time, and achieve a quantitative embolization endpoint, thereby improving reproducibility and efficacy of transarterial embolization procedures.
The co-investigator for this grant is Sanjay Gupta, MD, Chair Ad Interim, Department of Interventional Radiology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
The NIH's SBIR program funds early stage small businesses that are seeking to commercialize innovative technologies to improve health. This competitive program uses a rigorous peer review system to ensure that only the most meritorious scientific proposals are funded, noted Embolx.
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