Published: August 05, 2011
Firefly BioWorks, Inc. Announces the Award of a $2M Grant from the National Institutes of Health for microRNA Profiling in Cancer Diagnostics
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Firefly BioWorks, Inc., a manufacturer of universally compatible
multiplex assays, announced today it was awarded a $2M Phase II Small
Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Cancer
Institute for microRNA profiling. MicroRNAs are an emerging class of
biomarkers that are proving to be important indicators for early
diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. The company will use the award
to expand production capacity and validate its microRNA assay against
the current state of the art. The goal of the Phase II studies is to
develop a product providing a combination of performance, throughput and
cost not available from existing solutions.
"We are excited to build upon promising results from Phase I," said Dr.
Daniel Pregibon, Firefly co-founder and CTO, "and look forward to
working with our academic and industry partners to develop innovative
research tools in this important field." Firefly's core technology was
developed in the laboratory of Prof. Patrick Doyle, in the Chemical
Engineering Department at MIT, who said: "I am very excited to see an
academic discovery from my lab being translated into a product which
holds great promise for improving cancer research and diagnosis." Prof.
Doyle is also a Firefly co-founder and chairs its Scientific Advisory
Board.
"We are extremely grateful to the Small Business Innovation Research
program and the National Cancer Institute for their continued support of
our technology and vision," said Dr. Davide Marini, Firefly co-founder
and CEO. "The SBIR program continues to provide a crucial source of
energy to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, which is at the heart of
America's competitiveness."
About Firefly BioWorks
Firefly BioWorks, Inc. (Cambridge, MA) is introducing an open platform
allowing industrial, academic and clinical scientists to develop and use
multiplexed biological assays on standard laboratory instrumentation.
The company's first line of products will consist of encoded hydrogel
microparticles that can be read on standard flow cytometers, microarray
readers and fluorescence microscopes. Firefly's multi-functional
microparticles are produced by Optical Liquid Stamping, a
ground-breaking microfabrication method allowing rapid synthesis of
complex reagents for biological analysis. The company's long-term vision
is to provide research and clinical scientists with reliable and
affordable solutions for the comprehensive characterization of
biological function.
Firefly BioWorks, Inc.
Davide Marini, 617-500-6247
dmarini@fireflybio.com
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