Nanopath Receives $4 Million in Grants from National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation

Funding to support development of point-of-care diagnostic platform for women's health

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Nanopath Inc., a point-of-care diagnostics company enabling high-quality molecular testing in minutes, announced today that it was awarded $4 million in federal funding. The company was awarded a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support continued research and development of the company's point-of-care diagnostic platform for pelvic and gynecologic infections. Both grants were awarded through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, a competitive, awards-based program designed to stimulate technological innovations developed by small businesses. These grants bring the company's total funding to over $15 million.

It is well documented that women's health is underfunded and under-researched. Nanopath is working to tackle these health disparities through development of a novel diagnostic technology that is intentionally designed to meet the needs of women, empowering them to take control of their health. The company's low-cost, easy-to-use diagnostic platform is designed to provide unparalleled access to clinically actionable molecular diagnostic information at the point-of-care.

Nanopath will use the new funds towards core platform development, including the test consumable and readout instrumentation, as well as analytical and clinical validation of their lead assay. The company envisions that the technology could become the new standard of care for characterization of pelvic and gynecologic infections.

"This funding is a tremendous vote of confidence in Nanopath's ability to transform molecular diagnostics and enable providers to move away from the traditional view of disease-specific diagnostic testing, and towards patient-centric testing," said Amogha Tadimety, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Nanopath. "The outcomes of this grant-funded work could lay the groundwork for a new era of clinically informative diagnostics at any site-of-care, changing the paradigm of women's healthcare."

Nanopath has developed advanced prototypes of both its disposable test cartridge and benchtop readout instrument and is actively developing its pipeline of test offerings through clinical collaborations with preeminent hospitals in New England.

"The groundbreaking data, workflows and prototypes developed by our team over the last year formed the foundation of our applications for both grants," said Alison Burklund, Ph.D., co-founder, President, and CTO of Nanopath. "Nanopath is commercializing a novel technology that has never before been used for molecular diagnostics. Support from NSF, NIH, and the broader scientific community will catalyze our commercial development."

Since the company raised a $10 million Series A in 2022, Nanopath has hit several significant milestones, including: growing the team from 4 to 14 employees, receiving the 2022 American Association Diagnostic and Laboratory Medicine (ADLM) Disruptive Technology Award, and recognition of its co-founder on the 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 (Healthcare) list. Nanopath also introduced its Scientific Advisory Board, comprised of several influential scientists in the field of nanobiosensing. 

About Nanopath
Nanopath is dedicated to improving health equity worldwide, starting with women's health. Nanopath's proprietary molecular diagnostic testing platform takes a radically new approach to how clinicians characterize human health. The company's novel biosensing technology has the potential to enable fast, high-complexity testing at the point-of-care, rather than in centralized laboratories. The Nanopath team is deeply passionate about improving the lives of women and other underserved populations through equitable application of novel technology. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., at The Engine built by MIT, a premier facility for high-potential, tough-tech start-ups. Nanopath is backed by Norwest Venture Partners, the Medtech Convergence Fund (an SV Health Investors fund), Gingerbread Capital and Green D Ventures. For more information, visit www.nanopathdx.com.

SOURCE Nanopath