ARPA-H small business awards set to bring revolutionary healthcare solutions rapidly to market 

New projects span priority areas in nutrition, wearables, brain health, and cell therapy 

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), today announced contract awards to 15 small businesses across eight U.S. states to engage in groundbreaking research and development (R&D). The topic-spanning work could quickly produce health technologies for commercialization and market readiness for the health benefit of all Americans.  

“By mobilizing American small businesses, we’re maintaining momentum at the leading edge of biomedical innovation,” said ARPA-H Director Alicia Jackson, Ph.D. “These emerging technologies act as seeds for market-ready work that will make a difference in the lives of people across the country.”  

These awards represent an investment of up to $28 million in American small businesses. The awardees will each be tackling various health problems. Proposed solutions span wearables, artificial intelligence, diagnostic tools, and gene therapies. The following performers were selected to receive contracts:  

• Sibel Health in Chicago, IL is developing the first wireless wearable edema monitoring platform as an alternative digital health tool to the current tape measurement. 
• Zenso Inc. in Berkely, CA will create personalized software using LLMs and adaptive tools to support people with ASD and cognitive disabilities. The project will develop an AI companion for tailored communication training and anxiety management. 
• Alethium Technologies, Inc. in West Hollywood, CA is developing an advanced Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app to enhance communication for individuals with speech disorders, leveraging emerging technologies to foster richer, more dynamic interactions. 
• VoiceLove, LLC in Scarsdale, NY is creating a personalized adaptive communication tool for people with dementia and autism, using LLMs and AI to address major communication challenges. 
• Quantitative BioSciences, Inc. in San Diego, CA is developing a microfluidics sterility sensor that detects contaminants in 1–4 days with minimal user input, much faster than current 14-day tests. 
• HelioWave Technologies LLC in College Station, TX is developing HelioLIFETM, a platform for product release testing with rapid sterility, cellular profiling, protein analysis, fast antigen detection, and a fully automated prototype. 
• Physical Sciences, Inc. in Andover, MA is developing a patent-pending instrument for real-time cellular metabolism measurement in bioreactors, addressing gaps in current monitoring and improving process control and yield. 
• Halcyon Biomedical Inc. in Friendswood, TX is developing a point-of-care system for cell therapy manufacturing and delivery, using high-throughput blood processing technology adapted for cell transfection. 
• Memsel, Inc. in Fort Worth, TX is creating a non-invasive intranasal liposomal system to manage neuroinflammation, using ROS-sensitive lipids that release drugs when exposed to reactive oxygen species. 
• GT Biosciences, Inc. in Cambridge, MA is developing dual ligand lipid nanoparticles for targeted brain gene editing, allowing controllable Cas9 and sgRNA activation with IV small molecules. 
• Insilicom, LLC in Tallahassee, FL is developing a personalized nutrition system for post-cancer and high-risk patients, using knowledge graph technology to integrate genetic and nutritional data. 
• Evimero in Tuscaloosa, AL is developing MiNu-Dx, a fecal microbiome diagnostic tool to assess real-time cardiovascular risk and complications related to nutrition insecurity. 
• AO Technologies, LLC in La Canada Flintridge, CA will build a portable imaging device like a video otoscope, but with OCT imaging to visualize cochlear soft tissues. This will help clinicians better diagnose and manage sensorineural hearing loss. 
• NIRSense Inc. in Richmond, VA is developing a novel optical sensor for continuous systolic and diastolic blood pressure monitoring, aiding in tracking cardiovascular disease progression. 
• Esperto Medical Inc. in Irvine, CA has developed Resonance Sonomanometry (RSM), a novel method for continuous, absolute blood pressure measurement in mmHg, unaffected by demographics. 

In addition to these awards, the agency has issued a new draft small business solicitation on SAM.gov to address the following new topic areas:  

• Topic 1: Development of an annual test to inform women about their future fertility 
• Topic 2: Breaking Ground: The First Curative, Non-Invasive, Long-Lasting Therapy for Endometriosis 
• Topic 3: Multifunctional Surgical Glue 
• Topic 4: Universal Platform for Living Adaptive Toxin-removal (UNI-PLAT)  
• Topic 5: Rapid Comprehensive Diagnostic Test for Multi-System Autoimmune Disease 
• Topic 6: Virtual Human Brain for the Development of Neurosurgical Robotics 
• Topic 7: ARPA-H Lineage Topic 

The ARPA-H Small Business program issues SBIR/STTR contracts to small businesses in accordance with relevant Small Business Administration policies. Importantly, ARPA-H seeks solutions that aim to achieve improved health outcomes across patient populations, communities, and conditions. Exact contract award amounts and continued funding depend on the R&D teams meeting aggressive research milestones, typical to the ARPA-H model. 

To learn more about the upcoming solicitation and key dates, visit the ARPA-H SBIR webpage.