NuvOx Pharma Awarded STTR Grant from NCI for Ultrasound Contrast Agent to Diagnose Pancreatic Cancer

Tucson, AZ, May 28, 2016 --(PR.com)-- Evan Unger, MD, President and CEO of NuvOx Pharma, a Tucson based biotechnology company, announced that the company has been awarded a grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop an ultrasound contrast agent to diagnose pancreatic cancer. The Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant is a joint development project between NuvOx and Stanford University. The two principal investigators on the project are Drs. Unger and Juergen Willmann, MD, Chief of Body Imaging, Professor of Radiology, Stanford University, School of Medicine.

There are currently about 50,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer each year in the US and more than 40,000 deaths. The overall 5-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is less than 5% because most cancers have already spread at the time of diagnosis. Dr. Willmann’s lab discovered a biomarker that is expressed early in the development of pancreatic cancer that can potentially be used to detect early stage pancreatic cancer. Dr. Willmann said, “I am very pleased to work on this project with NuvOx. Dr. Unger previously developed the #1 selling ultrasound contrast agent, Definity. The group at NuvOx are experts in nanotechnology, together we hope to develop a new technology to detect early stage pancreatic cancer while it is still curable.”

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