# Engineering ex vivo breast tumors in human breast tissue to address racial disparities in HR-/ERBB2+ breast cancer

> **NIH NIH R43** · KELIOMICS, INC. · 2024 · $398,895

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Black women are 42% more likely to die from breast cancer than White women. While social,
economic, structural, and cultural factors contribute to this disparity, differences in Black and
White tumor biology are a major driver. New therapeutics that address these biological
differences could resolve the racial disparities in breast cancer survival. Unfortunately,
developing new therapeutics is slow, risky, and expensive: despite an average pre-clinical
investment of $238 million, 95% of new therapeutics fail FDA clinical trials. Keliomics’ patented,
groundbreaking technology is the first that can keep human breast tissue alive in the lab. Using
this breast tissue, we can produce breakthrough models of breast cancer for use therapeutic
development. Unlike existing technologies, our models can be specific to Black breast cancer,
White breast cancer, early breast cancer, and advanced breast cancer. Our long-term goal is to
use these models to develop new therapies for these different subtypes of breast cancer. In our
Phase I studies, we will identify the specific conditions that will generate models of Black breast
cancer, White breast cancer, early breast cancer, and advanced breast cancer. With that
accomplished, in Phase II we will perform large, definitive studies of our breast cancer models
to show that they respond to chemotherapy in the same ways that human patients do. This will
revolutionize therapeutic development for breast cancer by reducing the failure rate and
reducing costs. Our target customers, breast cancer therapeutic developers, have 1,000 new
treatments in development. We estimate this to be a $1-2 billion market opportunity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10922275
- **Project number:** 1R43CA291515-01
- **Recipient organization:** KELIOMICS, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Frank Lau
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $398,895
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-15 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10922275

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10922275, Engineering ex vivo breast tumors in human breast tissue to address racial disparities in HR-/ERBB2+ breast cancer (1R43CA291515-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10922275. Licensed CC0.

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