Novilytic receives $1.5 million NIH grant to develop tools for drug discovery and diagnostics

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Novilytic, a life sciences company based in the Purdue Research Park that offers novel separation tools and devices for drug discovery and clinical diagnostics, has received notice from the National Institutes of Health that it has been awarded a grant worth up to $1.5 million.

The NIH made the award to Novilytic as a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research Grant, also known as America’s Seed Fund.  It is one of the largest sources of early-stage capital for technology commercialization in the country.  Novilytic previously has received three SBIR grants from the NIH.

“We appreciate the NIH’s continued recognition of the importance of our research in diagnostics and the support of our affinity reagent program,” said Fred Regnier, the John H. Law Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in Purdue University’s College of Science and CEO of Novilytic.

The grant will be used to support research and development of novel affinity reagents that enrich, identify, and quantify a broad spectrum of health-related analytes.

“Our first generation of award-winning products made it possible to collect blood samples anytime and anywhere at lower cost and greater customer convenience,” Regnier said.  “This second generation of products will enable us to deliver superior, mass spectrometry based analytical technology at a price competitive with older, less precise methods”.  

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier this year registered our Noviplex™ Plasma Collection Cards as a Class 1 Medical Device, allowing doctors and others in medical facilities to collect plasma using a finger-stick derived drop of blood.

The great advantage of Noviplex cards is that they combine blood-drop collection, fractionation, sample preservation, transportation, and sample preparation into one step. Traditional plasma sampling methods produce liquid samples and require expensive transportation, storage, and extensive sample preparation. 

About Novilytic

Novilytic offers novel separation tools and methods for application by investigators working in drug discovery and clinical medicine. The company focuses on tools that simplify complex methods and sample preparation for quantitative LC/MS/MS tandem mass spectrometry. 

About Purdue Research Foundation

The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Established in 1930, the foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds scholarships and grants; acquires property; protects Purdue's intellectual property; and promotes entrepreneurial activities on behalf of Purdue. The foundation manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Park and Purdue Technology Centers. The foundation received the 2016 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Innovation from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. 

Purdue Research Foundation contact: Tom Coyne, 765-588-1044, tjcoyne@prf.org 

Source: Timothy Schlabach, 925-285-4068, tschlabach@novilytic.com