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NIH Awards Early is Good $1.6M for Bladder Cancer Monitoring Test

NEW YORK – Diagnostics startup Early is Good said the National Institutes of Health has awarded it a $1.6 million Phase II grant to support the validation of a bladder cancer monitoring test.

The Indianapolis-based firm said that it will use the money to fund R&D for its urine-based BCDx multiomic test for the detection of 12 biomarkers, including protein and RNA targets, and identification of cancer recurrence. That will include conducting studies to support use of the test in clinical settings.

"This innovative test potentially would allow patients to avoid invasive procedures, get earlier detection of recurrence, and have better overall outcomes," Early is Good CEO Thakshila Liyanage said in a statement.

The company said two years ago that it was planning to use $4 million of seed funding to complete clinical trials for BCDx as a laboratory-developed test for early bladder cancer detection.

The company noted that it has been developing a multiomic integration platform for the detection of DNA, RNA, protein, and metabolite targets. It also announced earlier this year that it was partnering with the Mayo Clinic on the development of a liquid biopsy test for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.