A startup spun off from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has achieved a major overseas milestone after its commercialization potential was recognized in the United States.
UNIST announced Wednesday that ExoDiscovery Technologies, a U.S.-based startup founded on intact exosome capture technology developed by Professor Cho Yoon-kyung's biomedical engineering laboratory, has been selected as a grant recipient by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).
ExoDiscovery Technologies demonstrated strong competitiveness in the evaluation, which focused on early detection of non-small cell lung cancer and treatment monitoring technology. The company is developing a liquid biopsy-based platform called EDM (ExoDiscovery Monitor) and has secured $4.02 million, approximately 5.5 billion won, in commercialization funding over the next three years.
CPRIT is the second-largest cancer research funding organization in the United States after the National Cancer Institute. The institute invested a total of $154 million in 73 projects this year, with ExoDiscovery ranking first among diagnostics and device companies supported in the Texas region.
The core technology captures exosomes in blood without damaging them. This approach preserves the microstructure of exosomes secreted by cancer cells, resulting in superior information retention and higher diagnostic accuracy.
The technology's strength lies in its balanced sensitivity and specificity throughout the process from early disease tracking to treatment response confirmation. The EDM system reads cancer-related genetic signals from blood exosomes in real time and is up to 10,000 times more sensitive than conventional circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) tests.
Results can be delivered within a day, significantly accelerating anticancer drug selection and response evaluation. Costs are also reduced by approximately 80% compared to existing tests under Medicare standards.
ExoDiscovery Technologies established a CLIA-certified laboratory in Cedar Park, Texas this year, enabling the company to provide diagnostic services even before FDA approval. This structure allows for early revenue generation.
The company plans to obtain FDA medical device approval for its advanced reagents and equipment, making them available to laboratories domestically and internationally.
With CPRIT support, the company will focus on expanding its entire system over the next three years, including clinical applications, automated equipment development, and technology advancement. The company is also pursuing clinical collaboration with the University of Texas medical school and joint development with local companies while preparing to expand applications beyond cancer to other diseases.
The company originated from Labspinner, an exosome specialist firm established in 2018. Labspinner acquired Professor Cho's lab-on-a-disc-based exosome separation technology in 2019, and advanced diagnostic technology development led to U.S. commercialization.
The Ministry of Science and ICT's Small but Strong R&D Special Zone program provided continuous support throughout the development process. Labspinner refined its U.S. market entry strategy last year through the UNIST-UCSD Global Entrepreneur Accelerator program.
The company subsequently expanded its network through highly competitive accelerator programs including MassChallenge, NYU Enterprise Foundation Lab, and BioTools. Based on these achievements, the company established a U.S. corporation this year and relocated its headquarters.
In the first half of this year, the company was selected for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's "Smart Healthcare System Development Based on Urine Analysis" project, receiving 5.5 billion won in support over five years. The company currently serves as a board member of the Exosome Industry Association while accelerating global market expansion.
"This selection demonstrates a virtuous cycle where UNIST technology leads to startups that grow overseas," said Kim Young-sik, head of UNIST's Industry-Academia Cooperation Foundation. "The process of advancing from Small but Strong Special Zone support to U.S. public funding proves the successful global expansion potential of UNIST startups."
