MERIDEN, Conn. — Intus Biosciences has received a $2.7 million National Cancer Institute Small Business Innovation Research Fast-Track award to develop a non-invasive screening test for early-onset colorectal cancer and precancerous colorectal lesions using bacterial biomarkers found in the microbiome.
The funded program, “Non-Invasive, Bacterial-Based Early-Onset Colorectal Screen,” brings Intus Bio together with colorectal cancer researchers from Johns Hopkins University, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Collaborators include Dr. Cynthia Sears of Johns Hopkins; Dr. David Drew, Dr. Long Nguyen and Dr. Andrew Chan of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital; Dr. Lynn Butterly and Dr. Joseph Anderson of Dartmouth-Hitchcock; and Dr. Martha Shrubsole and Dr. Reid Ness of Vanderbilt.
According to the company, colorectal cancer incidence is rising by roughly 3% annually among adults ages 20 to 49, while rates are declining in older populations. Nearly three in four early-onset cases are diagnosed after the disease has spread beyond the colon.
The project will use Intus Bio’s Titan-1 platform, which generates and analyzes high-resolution bacterial DNA sequencing data to identify bacterial biomarkers and develop AI-powered diagnostic algorithms for disease detection and risk identification.
Titan-1 is designed to analyze bacteria beyond those already named and recorded in existing databases, allowing researchers to identify bacterial sequence features associated with early-onset colorectal cancer, including features from previously unidentified bacteria.
The study will also seek to detect precancerous lesions that develop before cancer, potentially creating an opportunity for earlier intervention.
“Intus Bio was founded to make the microbiome as important to healthcare as it is to our health,” said Paul Denslow, CEO and Co-Founder of Intus Bio. “This award is a major milestone towards that goal and also underscores the revolutionary potential of our Titan-1 platform.”
Mark Driscoll, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of Intus Bio and Principal Investigator, added, “Non-invasive detection of early-onset colorectal cancer is a serious and growing unmet need, which our collaborators — all leading experts in the field — believe the groundbreaking Titan-1 can address. Success in this effort will herald an entirely new class of diagnostics, with the potential to transform our approach to multiple diseases.”
