Radiopharmaceutical developer Navidea Biopharmaceuticals has received a grant from the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) to develop a radioimmunoguided surgery (RIGS) agent for use in detecting metastatic sites in colorectal cancer.
NCI awarded Navidea a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, which has the potential to be worth up to $1.5 million over three years if fully funded. First-year phase I funding of $315,000 has already been approved; it's expected to enable Navidea to complete preclinical bridging activities using a RIGS tumor-antigen-targeted monoclonal antibody and prepare a standardization clinical trial protocol.
Second- and third-year phase II funding of up to $1.2 million is contingent upon the company meeting certain phase I criteria, including institutional review board (IRB) approval of the clinical trial protocol, Navidea said.
