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Ultrahigh-Throughput Cell Interaction Screening to Advance CAR-T Therapeutic Development

Award Number: R44CA310740
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/07/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2027

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Ultrahigh-Throughput Cell Interaction Screening to Advance CAR-T Therapeutic Development - ABSTRACT Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies have demonstrated incredible efficacy in certain cancers and hold enormous potential for others, yet their broader success—especially in challenging indications like solid tumors—is ultimately limited by the need for significant improvements. Current assays rely on activation or proliferation markers as proxies for cytotoxicity, which poorly predict true tumor-killing ability. As CAR designs become more numerous and complex, there is a critical need for scalable methods that directly measure function at the single-cell level. We are developing CAGEs (Cell Assemblies in Gel Enclosures), a platform that enables millions of defined CAR-T and cancer cell interactions to be assayed in parallel. Encapsulated in biocompatible gel shells, these assemblies support multi-day co-culture, direct measurement of cell killing, and recovery for downstream cytokine profiling and sequencing. This allows functional selection from large CAR libraries—capabilities not possible with existing technologies. CAGEs offer throughput more than four orders of magnitude higher than current assays, meaning millions of CAR-Ts can be screened based on their cytotoxic function in hours, with single-cell resolution. By directly linking cell function phenotype to CAR design, CAGEs will accelerate the refinement of cell therapies toward enhanced efficacy and safety.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $306,872 )
2026	2026	VIVID BIOINNOVATIONS, PBC	953 INDIANA ST	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94107	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research	000	1	8/7/2026	NEW	$306,872
														Subtotal = $306,872

Grand Total All Awards = $306,872

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Ultrahigh-Throughput Cell Interaction Screening to Advance CAR-T Therapeutic Development

Award Number: R44CA310740

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/07/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2027

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