SBIR-STTR Award

Developing a Novel Incubator to Increase Cell Culture Reproducibility
Award last edited on: 1/31/2024

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
NIH : NCATS
Total Award Amount
$262,240
Award Phase
1
Solicitation Topic Code
350
Principal Investigator
Barry E Rothenberg

Company Information

Embrient Inc

9030 Carroll Way Suite 1
San Diego, CA 92121
   (858) 535-0545
   info@embrient.com
   www.embrient.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 51
County: San Diego

Phase I

Contract Number: 1R44TR004569-01A1
Start Date: 1/1/2024    Completed: 6/30/2024
Phase I year
2024
Phase I Amount
$262,240
Embrient proudly presents its "Developing a Novel Incubator to Increase Cell Culture Reproducibility" grant. For years, Embrient (and its predecessor company) has been addressing a problem bedeviling researchers worldwide: "how can I culture my cells in a static, unchanging environment, instead of an environment that changes unpredictably and potentially sabotages my experiment?" Embrient's 50-year-old flagship product, the MIC-101, is a sealed incubation chamber that has admirably served researchers investigating malaria, HIV, and even recent Nobel Prize laureates studying hypoxia-inducible factors(HIF). The "flying saucer-shaped" chamber has been cited extensively in the scientific literature for over 50 years. However, it has limited functionality and is somewhat difficult-to-use. Despite the MIC-101's proud history, the time has come to replace it. With this grant, Embrient aims to revolutionize incubator technology by developing a continuous flow incubator that is virtually impregnable to typical outside perturbations, such as checking daily cell growth and health, multiple users, contamination, and fluctuations in CO2, O2, and other gas mixtures. Embrient has secured five patents for its pioneering incubator design that employs an "Air Veil" to insulate the interior conditions from external influences. A major issue coming from the NIH, researchers and incubator manufacturers alike has been, "how to increase reproducibility of experiments over time and across labs?" Embrient's groundbreaking incubator directly addresses this concern. Instead of "putting up with" currently marketed incubators that can take up to 50 minutes of "recovery time" after door openings and disturbances, Embrient's recovery time (subject to testing and optimization to be performed in this grant), can be near zero. To achieve this, Embrient will apply air barrier principles using laminar flow, already proven in large scale applications such as commercial refrigerated (or heated) spaces, adapted to meet the unique needs of an incubator. This means cell culture experiments can achieve consistent human body and other conditions without the wide fluctuations that plague current market incubators. Embrient can make a dramatic improvement in the way cell culture is performed in laboratories worldwide, and thus make a major advance in research results.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
Narrative Embrient Inc is pleased to submit our request for an HHS / SBIR / NIBIB grant, entitled, "Developing a Novel Incubator to Increase Cell Culture Reproducibility."By funding this grant, you will support our efforts to design and test an incubator that employs laminar flow principles, aiming to achieve zero or near-zero chamber recovery time when the incubator door is opened. This innovation holds the promise that future cell culture experiments utilizing our incubator can maintain stable conditions akin to the human body, without the extensive fluctuations that affect the reliability of current market incubators. As a result, research outcomes will be more dependable and reproducible, advancing scientific progress.

Project Terms:
Affect; Air; air flow; airflow; Air Movements; Algorithms; CO2; Carbonic Anhydride; Carbon Dioxide; cell culture; cell cultures; Cell Culture Techniques; Cellular Expansion; Cellular Growth; cell growth; Cell Body; Cells; Data Collection; diffused; diffuses; diffusing; diffusions; Diffusion; Environment; Future; Gases; Grant; Health; Recording of previous events; History; histories; HIV; AIDS Virus; Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Virus; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Virus; Human Immunodeficiency Viruses; LAV-HTLV-III; Lymphadenopathy-Associated Virus; Virus-HIV; Humidity; Incubators; Laboratories; Literature; Maintenance; Malaria; Paludism; Plasmodium Infections; Marketing; Modernization; Molecular Biology; DNA Molecular Biology; United States National Institutes of Health; NIH; National Institutes of Health; Nobel Prize; Legal patent; Patents; Refrigeration; Reliability of Results; Reproducibility of Results; Reproducibility of Findings; Research; Research Personnel; Investigators; Researchers; seal; Technology; Testing; Time; Measures; Outcomes Research; sensor; improved; Left; Phase; Recovery; Human Figure; Human body; Funding; fluid; liquid; Liquid substance; Shapes; tool; machine based learning; Machine Learning; System; Flying body movement; flying; simulation; novel; Reporting; Manufacturer; Incubated; Address; Reproducibility; Scientific Advances and Accomplishments; scientific accomplishments; scientific advances; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; SBIR; Small Business Innovation Research; Development; developmental; NIBIB; National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; virtual; designing; design; Outcome; innovate; innovative; innovation; user-friendly; new drug treatments; new drugs; new pharmacological therapeutic; new therapeutics; new therapy; next generation therapeutics; novel drug treatments; novel drugs; novel pharmaco-therapeutic; novel pharmacological therapeutic; novel therapy; novel therapeutics; Hypoxia Inducible Factor; commercial application; Secure; experimental study; experiment; experimental research; experiments; Atmosphere; cost estimate; cost estimation

Phase II

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: 00/00/00    Completed: 00/00/00
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