The study will test whether it is possible to identify and retrieve live multiple myeloma cells from blood samples, with the goal of allowing doctors to gain insights similar to those obtained from bone marrow tests through blood drawing.
Danbury, Connecticut, USA, October 27th / PRNewswire / -- Biotechnology company CellsBin ® announced today that it has received funding from the National Cancer Institute ( NCI ) for direct entry into the Phase II Small Business Innovation Research ( SBIR ). This funding will be used to advance the company's multiple myeloma blood test CB-Insight ™. Multiple myeloma is a type of cancer that occurs in the bone marrow.
This funding follows closely on the Series A financing announced by CellsBin in September, which was led by 108 BioCapital at that time. The company stated that this capital, coming from both private and federal channels, will propel its myeloma project from the early proof-of-concept stage to the formal testing of patients and the development stage of tests for doctors.
Multiple myeloma is a type of plasma cell cancer, and plasma cells are immune cells that exist in the bone marrow. In the past, directly examining these cancer cells usually required a bone marrow biopsy, which involved taking a sample from the bone using a needle. CellsBin has adopted a different approach: to identify the small number of myeloma cells circulating in the blood and capture them intact and alive.
The company's long-term goal is to enable doctors to obtain detailed information about patients with multiple myeloma simply through routine blood tests, allowing for more frequent monitoring of the disease and ultimately enabling in-depth research into this condition, just as is currently possible with bone marrow samples.
Dr. Natalia Neparidze, an associate professor of hematology at Yale School of Medicine and the lead researcher for the myeloma project, stated: "Blood is the next frontier in multiple myeloma research. Our goal should be to provide doctors with the kind of biological insights that are currently only available through bone marrow sampling, with just one blood draw. This will enable us to monitor the disease more frequently and reduce the burden on patients."
This project, funded by NCI, includes a large-scale clinical study that will prospectively recruit and follow up patients. The lead researcher is Elan Gorshein, an Assistant Professor of Hematology at Yale School of Medicine, holding a Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Laws, and Master of Public Health degree. The study will assess the effectiveness of CellsBin technology in detecting and recovering viable myeloma cells from patient blood, and compare it with standard clinical tests, including bone marrow tests when appropriate.
Gorshein Dr. said, "The important question now is whether this technology can function reliably and consistently in patients. This study will measure its ability to detect myeloma cells in the blood and recover them in vivo, while comparing it with standard tests. If we can reliably recover these cells from the blood, it could provide us with a powerful new method to track myeloma over time and better understand how this disease operates."
The technology of CellsBin combines high-resolution imaging, microfluidic technology (tiny channels that guide the flow of liquid through chips), and machine learning to filter out extremely rare cells from a large number of normal cells in blood samples and separate them. Maintaining the viability of these cells allows for more in-depth studies, including their genetic and molecular characteristics, rather than just counting them.
CellsBin As early as 2024, preliminary results related to multiple myeloma were presented for the first time at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology. Subsequent work, supported by private funds, qualified the company to receive direct funding for Phase II trials, which allows small companies that have proven the feasibility of their technology to skip Phase I.
According to this award, CellsBin plans to test this technology among patients to confirm the consistency of results and prepare it for use in clinical laboratories, including promoting the future development of laboratory-built tests (LDT) that will be provided under the standards of CLIA federal clinical laboratories.
CellsBin, Co-Founder and CEO, Ali Kabiri, Ph.D., stated: "This funding allows us to move from verifying concepts to building tests that can be used in clinical settings. The goal is not just to detect a rare signal, but to stably recover genuine myeloma cells, maintain their integrity and viability, and to establish clinical laboratory procedures around this capability. We believe that this is the path forward for future blood tests and ultimately to gain insights from blood that are close to the level obtained from bone marrow."
Kabiri added, "If we could use blood to see the biological information that is currently only available through occasional bone marrow biopsies, the benefits would be more than just convenience. It would change how frequently we examine diseases, what we can learn from each sample, and the degree of closely we can track how diseases change over time."
About CellsBin
CellsBin is advancing Rare - Cell Biology ™, aiming to reveal rare cells that shape human health. Its Rare - Cell Intelligence ™ platform combines microfluidics, advanced imaging, single-cell analysis, and artificial intelligence to discover, analyze, and isolate rare cells on a large scale. The company is developing applications for precision diagnostics and scientific research, helping to bring laboratory findings to patients. The goal is to make rare cells visible, measurable, and usable in patient care.
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