Startup Pointcare Genomics announced that it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research contract from the National Cancer Institute worth up to $2.3 million for the development of a technology designed to detect circulating cell-free DNA biomarkers on a luminometer or a portable glucose meter.

Pointcare will initially receive $300,000 in Phase I SBIR funding to establish proof of principle for the technology, and could then receive an addition $2 million in Phase II funding to optimize and clinically validate both the luminometer- and glucose meter-based tests. Assuming this work is successful, the firm anticipates commercializing the products within two years.