Danbury, Connecticut, USA, October 27, 2026
CellsBin, a biotechnology company developing rare-cell analysis technologies, has received a Direct-to-Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to advance its investigational CB-Insight™ blood-based test for multiple myeloma. The funding will support clinical evaluation of the platform, which is designed to identify and recover rare circulating myeloma cells from blood samples while preserving them intact and alive for further analysis. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells that develops primarily in the bone marrow, where examining malignant cells has traditionally required an invasive bone marrow biopsy. CellsBin aims to develop an alternative approach that could provide clinicians with detailed information about myeloma biology through a routine blood draw. The NCI-supported program will move the technology beyond early proof-of-concept research into formal patient testing and clinical laboratory development. The award follows the company’s Series A financing announced in September 2026, led by 108 BioCapital, providing additional support for the development of its rare-cell analysis platform.
NCI Funding Advances CB-Insight Clinical Evaluation
The NCI Direct-to-Phase II SBIR award will support a clinical study designed to determine how reliably CB-Insight can detect and recover living multiple myeloma cells from patient blood samples. The research will be led by Elan Gorshein, DO, JD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine in Hematology at Yale School of Medicine, who will serve as the study’s principal investigator. Researchers will assess the platform’s ability to identify rare circulating myeloma cells and compare its findings with established clinical testing methods, including bone marrow assessments where appropriate. The study will also evaluate the consistency and reliability of cell recovery, an important requirement if the technology is to become useful in routine clinical testing. The award structure allows eligible small businesses that have already demonstrated technical feasibility to move directly into Phase II research without completing a separate Phase I SBIR award. CellsBin said its privately funded development work and earlier proof-of-concept findings supported its eligibility for this funding pathway. The company first presented early multiple myeloma results at the 2024 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. The current NCI-supported work will focus on determining whether those early findings can be reproduced consistently in patients.
Technology Designed to Recover Living Cancer Cells
CB-Insight combines high-resolution imaging, microfluidics and machine learning to identify extremely rare cells within a blood sample. Microfluidics uses small channels within specialized devices to guide and manipulate fluid, allowing researchers to process biological samples and isolate selected cells. The platform uses imaging and computational analysis to distinguish rare myeloma cells from the much larger population of normal blood cells. Unlike approaches that simply count or detect cellular signals, CellsBin aims to recover the identified cancer cells intact and alive. Preserving cell viability could allow researchers to investigate their genetic and molecular characteristics through additional laboratory analyses. This may provide insights into disease biology that are difficult to obtain from conventional blood-based measurements alone. Multiple myeloma is characterized by malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow, and repeated assessment of these cells can help clinicians understand disease status and treatment response. However, bone marrow sampling can be invasive and may not be practical at frequent intervals. By identifying circulating myeloma cells, CB-Insight is being developed with the longer-term goal of making disease monitoring less burdensome. The platform has not yet demonstrated that it can replace bone marrow biopsy in clinical practice, and its diagnostic performance must be established through the planned patient study.
Advertisement
Development Aims for Future Clinical Laboratory Use
Under the NCI-supported program, CellsBin plans to validate the technology in patients, establish reproducible cell detection and recovery procedures, and prepare the platform for clinical laboratory application. The company is also working toward a potential laboratory-developed test (LDT) that could be offered through a laboratory operating under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) framework. This development pathway will require analytical validation, reliable laboratory procedures and evidence that the test produces consistent results. According to CellsBin co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Ali Kabiri, PhD, the objective is to move beyond detecting a rare biological signal and demonstrate the consistent recovery of actual myeloma cells for further investigation. Natalia Neparidze, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Research Leader of the Myeloma Program at Yale School of Medicine, highlighted the potential value of obtaining biological information currently derived from bone marrow samples through a blood draw. If successful, the technology could eventually support more frequent monitoring and deeper investigation of changes in myeloma biology over time. Nevertheless, its clinical utility will depend on the results of the ongoing validation work, including comparisons with standard testing methods. The NCI award represents an important development milestone for CellsBin as it works to translate rare-cell research into a potential diagnostic application for multiple myeloma.
Source: CellsBin press release
