Sofie Biosciences announced it will receive a $1.8 million Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to be paid out over three years. The money will support the in vivo imaging diagnostics startup in an effort to make “the first digital chip technology for the rapid and easy synthesis of PET probes for neurobiology applications,” according to a press release. In layman’s terms, this means it would be cheaper and easier to produce PET probes. The technology would provide researchers and clinicians with more tools to study the brain (in normal and diseased states) and develop therapeutics.
The funds will be added to the company’s internal R&D investment.
“We believe that miniaturizing all aspects of radiosynthesis, including shielding and reaction volumes, is a critical step to providing the freedom to synthesize PET probes on demand in a fully-automated, reasonably priced package,” Melissa Moore, the principal investigator for the project, said.
Sofie Biosciences received a $1 million SBIR grant in 2012. The company has founding ties to UCLA and Caltech, with a focus on lowering the cost of molecular imaging with PET.
