HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Prana Thoracic, Inc., today announced that Nucore Medical, Inc., the company’s wholly owned subsidiary has been awarded a $3M grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (“CPRIT”). Prana Thoracic is a medical device company developing the first minimally invasive lung tissue excision tool for early interception of lung cancer. The CPRIT award will help fund the commercialization of Prana Thoracic’s technology through first-in-human studies.
“We’re excited to be recognized by CPRIT and believe this award speaks to the potential of Prana Thoracic’s surgical oncology devices. This funding will accelerate our technology to the bedside, enabling us to provide Texans and patients all over the world with a definitive diagnosis of their pulmonary nodules earlier in their patient journey,” said Joanna Nathan, CEO and founder of Prana Thoracic.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., making up almost 25% of all cancer deaths. Most lung cancers are diagnosed late, after the disease has spread, making survival limited. While over 14 million patients in the U.S. each year are eligible for lung cancer screening, less than 5% of these patients are currently undergoing the procedure. With Prana Thoracic’s technology – which is minimally invasive and tissue-sparing – physicians can target nodules that are challenging to sample, leading to definitive diagnosis, and dramatically improving outcomes.
“There has long been a gap between a simple needle biopsy of a nodule deep in the lung and opening the chest to remove a large segment of the lung to help diagnose early lung cancer, particularly when the nodules are very small,” Dr. Edward Boyle, MD, founder and one of the inventors of the technology. “As inventors, we partnered with the Johnson & Johnson MedTech Center for Device Innovation to help take this through design and early testing. At this point we are eager to advance the technology through first-in-human studies.”
ABOUT PRANA THORACIC
Houston-based medical device startup Prana Thoracic, Inc. is dedicated to developing solutions for the detection and intervention of early-stage lung cancer. Prana Thoracic is developing the first minimally invasive, tissue-sparing nodulectomy tool for early interception of suspicious pulmonary nodules. For more information, please visit www.pranathoracic.com
ABOUT CPRIT
CPRIT was created by the Texas Legislature and approved by a statewide vote in 2007 to lead the Lone Star State’s fight against cancer. In 2019, Texas voters again voted overwhelmingly to continue CPRIT with an additional $3 billion for a total $6 billion investment in cancer research and prevention. To date, CPRIT has awarded over $3 billion in grants to Texas research institutions and organizations through its academic research, prevention and product development research programs. CPRIT has also recruited more than 281 distinguished researchers to Texas, supported the establishment, expansion or relocation of 51 companies to Texas and generated over $7.66 billion in additional public and private investment. CPRIT funding has advanced scientific and clinical knowledge and provided over 8.1 million life-saving cancer prevention and early detection services to Texans in all 254 counties. Learn more at https://cprit.texas.gov
