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Vitatex Awarded NCI Contract

Vitatex, a Stony Brook-based biotechnology company located in the Long Island High Technology Incubator, has announced that it was awarded an SBIR Phase I/II Fast Track contract in September 2015 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for its Vita-Cap™ CTC Capture and Preservation tubes. A modification to exercise the option for a two-year SBIR Phase II of the contract was executed on June 8, 2016.

Vitatex Inc. provides proprietary invasive circulating tumor cell (iCTC) enrichment technology and products to develop revolutionary cancer genetic and cell tests. These “liquid biopsies” focus on next generation sequencing (NGS) detection, gene expression profiling and flow cytometry and have recently been adopted by the clinical laboratory community to characterize cancer cells and/or their RNA/DNA in blood samples non-invasively and serially, and to acquire genetic alternations and drug resistance information, which have the potential to replace tests run on surgical biopsies.

Clinical metastasis of solid tumors is linked to blood-borne dissemination of viable tumor cells in the circulation and clinical instrumentation is now available to isolate, enumerate, culture, generate metastatic mouse models and perform molecular analyses on these circulating tumor cells (CTCs). However, CTCs are fragile and tend to degrade within a few days when collected in standard blood collection tubes.

“The functional CTC preparation tube is designed to collect, enrich and preserve the viability/functionality of cancer cells in blood all within a closed system” said Wen-Tien Chen, PhD., Chief Scientific Officer of Vitatex. “The goal is to define conditions of Vitatex CTC preparation tubes for capturing and preserving cancer cells in the blood of patients with breast, ovarian and other types for up to 96 hours of transit.”

Specific terms of the contract were not disclosed.

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Applications are now open for the 12th BioREACH Award Program from the Center for Biotechnology, which provides $50,000 in translational research funding for Stony Brook faculty and postdoctoral researchers to generate the evidence needed to advance promising innovations to the next stage of development.

BioREACH funds milestone-driven studies and welcomes biomedical innovations as well as platforms, tools, computational technologies, and other enabling technologies with the potential to contribute to solutions addressing unmet needs in health.

Application deadline: October 29, 2026, 5:00pm ET

For info sessions, eligibility and deadlines visit our REACH Website and FAQ.

The Center for Biotechnology (CfB) has helped advance some of Stony Brook University’s most impactful biomedical innovations, among them the yeast two-hybrid system, Xiaflex®, ReoPro®, Oracea®, and 3D virtual colonoscopy. The CfB has supported more than 475 faculty-led translational research projects and contributed to 306 license agreements generating $51 million in royalty returns to the University.

Questions? Reach out to our program contacts or sign up for office hours:

Dee Dao, PhD, Associate Director, dee.dao@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Monday–Friday, 2–3:30 PM | Sign up Here

Zelda Mendelowitz, PhD, Venture Associate, zelda.mendelowitz@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 8–11 AM | Sign up Here

[post_title] => BioREACH: Translational Research Funding Opportunity [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => bioreach-translational-research-funding-opportunity [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2026-09-04 11:55:36 [post_modified_gmt] => 2026-09-04 15:55:36 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://centerforbiotechnology.org/?p=5065 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 3046 [post_author] => 3 [post_date] => 2018-08-22 20:10:08 [post_date_gmt] => 2018-08-22 20:10:08 [post_content] => Seasoned Industry Veterans Join Long Island Bioscience Hub’s BioEntrepreneur-in Residence Initiative The Long Island Bioscience Hub, a collaboration between Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and the Feinstein Institute at Northwell Health, announced the appointment of Dr. Boris Shor and Mr. Peter Young as its newest BioEntrepreneurs-In-Residence (BEIRs). Dr. Shor and Mr. Young have extensive bioscience industry experience affording them unique perspectives in the role of Bio Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Each will work with the Center for Biotechnology to identify commercially promising academic technologies that have the potential to support company formation. Dr. Shor has nearly 15 years of experience in leading oncology programs and external R&D partnerships at the large pharmas and biotech companies, with specific focus on preclinical development of small molecule kinase inhibitors and biologics. Previously at Pfizer, Dr. Shor led internal and external collaboration project teams to develop novel antibody-drug conjugates and supported BLA filing for Inotuzumab, which was approved for the treatment of leukemia in 2017. Prior to that, he was a project team leader at the Oncology Unit of Wyeth, managing the discovery of novel kinase inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. He currently serves on the executive management team of early-stage biotech companies and is a founder of BioIDEA, a biotech pitch event in New York City. Dr. Shor received a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center and performed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Inflammation Research team at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D prior to joining Pfizer. Mr. Young is an experienced life science industry consultant with over thirty-five years experience and currently serves as an executive-in-residence with Pappas Capital, where he leads the firm’s initiatives in translational research. He also serves on the Oversight Committee for the University of Miami Wallace H. Coulter Center for Translational Research and the Long Island Bioscience Hub External Review Board. He is a past member of the BIO board and chairman of NCBIO, the North Carolina industry trade association. Mr. Young earned a BA in History and an MBA from Indiana University. “We couldn’t be more delighted to add Boris and Peter to the Center for Biotechnology’s roster of BioEntrepreneurs-in-Residence. The ongoing expansion of the BioEntrepreneur-in-Residence program is critical for the continued development of the bioscience industry in the region” Diane Fabel, Director of Operations at the Center for Biotechnology said. “The attraction and retention of skilled bioscience management talent is an important component of ensuring companies can be launched and also grow here.” “I am thrilled to join the Center for Biotechnology as a BioEntrepreneur-in-Residence” Dr. Shor stated, “and I have already begun the work of assessing technologies and building a company. I appreciate the resources the Center for Biotechnology offers through their many programs not only to me, but to emerging companies throughout New York.” “Having worked with the Center for Biotechnology as an advisor for several years, I am pleased to formally join the Center as BioEntrepreneur-in-Residence” Peter Young stated. “There is an incredible amount of activity related to bioscience development currently taking place right now in the region, and the Center's many entrepreneurial programs provide a great springboard for significant industry expansion - I'm thrilled to be a part of it.” In their roles as BEIRs, Dr. Shor and Mr. Young will work to identify a technology or technologies from within partner institutions that will create the foundation for licensing and company formation. They will have the support of the Center for Biotechnology business and technology development staff, as well as the support of external industry advisors to develop successful commercialization strategies. Ultimately, the goal is to help the company position itself prepare for SBIR/STTR grant opportunities, and Angel and VC investment. Dr. Shor and Mr. Young join the eight BEIRs already working with the Center for Biotechnology who collectively have launched ten new companies in the last five years. 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The Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University (CFB) has announced the recipients of the 2023-2024 Applied Research & Development (ARaD) awards. The ARaD Program is designed to help bridge the gap between the early-stage technology discovery and development capabilities of the academic community, and the later-stage commercial development interests of the bioscience industry.

The CFB is supporting the project*, “Wearable Haptic Device for Catheter Based Cardiac Procedures” that is being developed by HapticHeart Solutions. The company is collaborating with Dr. Wei Lin of the Department of Biomedical Engineering to upgrade the haptic handle of their current prototype to a sleek wearable device for a better experience and reduced cost. The technology has the potential to revolutionize the $14B cardiac catheterization market.

Additionally, the CFB will support the project* entitled “"Development of a Structural Model and Enzyme-Inhibitor Interactions for a Novel Cancer Target” by Lime Therapeutics, a startup spun out of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in collaboration with Dr. Ivet Bahar, who serves as the Louis and Beatrice Laufer Chair and Director Laufer Center for Physical & Quantitative Biology within the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University. The goal of this project is to leverage the computational and molecular dynamics capabilities of Dr. Bahar’s lab to achieve three specific aims related to optimizing the company’s lead compound.

The program currently provides matching funds on a competitive basis to support collaborations between Stony Brook University faculty and New York State corporate partners in all areas of medical biotechnology. The primary interest is in supporting development of technologies that will help companies hit commercially relevant milestones, and that have the potential to positively impact the New York State economy.

Companies that are looking to connect with expertise at Stony Brook University are encouraged to contact Dr. Phuong Nguyen at the Center for Biotechnology to explore options. Dr. Nguyen can be reached at: phuong.t.nguyen@stonybrook.edu.

*pending finalization of contract

View the full press release here.

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Applications are now open for the 12th BioREACH Award Program from the Center for Biotechnology, which provides $50,000 in translational research funding for Stony Brook faculty and postdoctoral researchers to generate the evidence needed to advance promising innovations to the next stage of development.

BioREACH funds milestone-driven studies and welcomes biomedical innovations as well as platforms, tools, computational technologies, and other enabling technologies with the potential to contribute to solutions addressing unmet needs in health.

Application deadline: October 29, 2026, 5:00pm ET

For info sessions, eligibility and deadlines visit our REACH Website and FAQ.

The Center for Biotechnology (CfB) has helped advance some of Stony Brook University’s most impactful biomedical innovations, among them the yeast two-hybrid system, Xiaflex®, ReoPro®, Oracea®, and 3D virtual colonoscopy. The CfB has supported more than 475 faculty-led translational research projects and contributed to 306 license agreements generating $51 million in royalty returns to the University.

Questions? Reach out to our program contacts or sign up for office hours:

Dee Dao, PhD, Associate Director, dee.dao@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Monday–Friday, 2–3:30 PM | Sign up Here

Zelda Mendelowitz, PhD, Venture Associate, zelda.mendelowitz@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 8–11 AM | Sign up Here

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BioREACH: Translational Research Funding Opportunity

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Fostering Growth

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