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National Research Council of Canada Contributes C$500K to Contextual Genomics

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Contextual Genomics announced today that it has signed a contribution agreement of up to C$500,000 ($389,865) with the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP).

The Vancouver, Canada-based firm will use the funding to develop and validate an updated, expanded version of its Find It somatic cancer hotspot assay, which includes 140 current and what it called "most clinically relevant actionable mutations" in solid tumor cancers.

The funding will also support Contextual's development and validation of its Follow It assay, which monitors cancer-related DNA mutations in blood samples over time.

"We are very excited to again work with NRC IRAP [as] their support will allow our company to continue developing important products … for Canadians impacted by cancer and for the worldwide cancer community," Contextual Executive Chairman Chris Wagner said in a statement.

In February, Contextual received $12 million from PacBridge Capital Partners to continue expanding the global distribution of the Find It assay.

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