News

CytoRecovery Awarded National Science Foundation Phase II SBIR Research Grant

CytoRecovery, Inc., a leader in marker free technologies for the enrichment, sorting, and recovery of live cells, announced that the National Science Foundation (NSF) has approved its application to receive a Phase II SBIR Research Grant. Titled “Bioelectrical Cell Enrichment, Sorting, and Recovery with On-Chip Sample Prep and Monitoring,” the grant will provide $952,558 in research funding to develop new features that will be embodied in the Company’s next generation CytoR2 Platform for advanced cell sorting.

The research will be conducted in the laboratories of Dr. Rafael Davalos, Virginia Tech’s L. Preston Wade Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Dr. Nathan Swami, UVA Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the CytoRecovery laboratory located at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center (VT CRC) in Blacksburg, VA, under the direction of Dr, Alex Hyler, who is the Principal Investigator (PI) for the NSF grant.

“We are pleased to receive this prestigious SBIR research grant from the NSF and for the validation of our technology that it represents,” stated Dr. Hyler. She added, “As medicine moves towards personalized care, more precise cell recovery is required for research and pharmaceutical development, especially in the new fields of cell therapeutics and genomics. To address this challenge, we have brought to market our CytoR1 Platform – a label-free, fully-integrated product system for cell sorting, enrichment, and recovery.”

The funding will be used to advance features, progress software, and develop new technologies for marker free cell sorting, including integrating the processes of cell sample preparation and expanding capabilities to monitor cells in the Company’s proprietary, microfluidic chips.

Learn more here.

Recent News

09/03/2025

Cupron Performance Additives (“Cupron”) announces new distribution relationship with Palmer Holland

Cupron Performance Additives (Cupron) announced today the launch of an exclusive distribution agreement with Palmer Holland, leading North American distributor of specialty additives for the engineered materials marketplace. Palmer Holland will distribute Cupron’s copper-based antimicrobial and anti-odor technologies into plastics, films, foams, and polymeric systems throughout North America. The Cupron line effectively complements Palmer Holland’s

08/26/2025

Activation Capital Names Michael Steele as President and CEO

The Virginia Biotechnology Research Partnership Authority (doing business as Activation Capital) announced today that it has appointed Michael Steele as president and chief executive officer. Steele succeeds Robert Ward, who has served as interim CEO since July 2024 during a period of rapid growth for the life sciences ecosystem development organization. Steele comes to Activation

08/25/2025

Danforth Advisors Acquires PharmaDirections

Danforth Advisors LLC, today announced the acquisition of PharmaDirections, Inc., a full-spectrum development partner to life science companies, expanding its integrated capabilities from discovery through commercialization. Founded in 2003, PharmaDirections was a pioneer of the virtual drug development model. The company brings veteran program leaders and more than 150 specialists to support strategic planning and