(PRLEAP.COM) GAITHERSBURG, MD - Trevigen Inc., in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), has recently been awarded a $1,500,000 Phase II Small Business Innovation (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to develop and commercialize the CometChip™ technology, licensed from MIT and pioneered by the Engelward laboratory. This latest grant adds to more than $1,818,784 of SBIR funds awarded for the project, including the Phase I Award from 2011, with which the efficacy of the technology was proven.

"Knowledge about DNA damage and repair is relevant to cancer prevention, susceptibility and treatment, with applications in drug development, clinical assay development and genotoxocity testing. Despite its fundamental importance, most existing methods for measuring DNA damage are difficult and time consuming. We propose to meet the needs of basic researchers, epidemiologists, clinicians, and researchers in the pharmaceutical industry by developing a multi-purpose high throughput platform and software for quantifying DNA damage and repair in human cells" says the Principal Investigator Dr. Jay George.

Comet assay is a well-established assay wherein damaged DNA migrates faster than intact DNA when electrophoresed, and then observed by microscopy. Trevigen Inc. scientists and their collaborators developed a spatially encoded microwell system, which through preliminary tests shows to enable a 3,000% increase in throughput, with heightened accuracy.

Trevigen is a Maryland-based company that develops and delivers innovative technologies and systems for the study of cancer, drug development, and toxicology, and is a pioneer in commercializing the only complete and standardized system employing the comet assay for the detection of DNA Damage in single cells. Trevigen is also a licensee of certain University of Pittsburgh owned technology, for which Dr. Robert Sobol, Pitt's principal investigator on the project, receives royalties.

For more information, visit www.trevigen.com.

CometChip is a trademark of Trevigen, Inc.

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