'10,000 Times More Precise Lung Cancer Diagnosis'... UNIST Startup Secures 5.5 Billion KRW Funding in Texas, USA
Published 08 Dec.2025 14:43(KST)
Faculty Startup ExoDiscovery Selected for $4.02 Million CPRIT Project Over Three Years
Non-Destructive Blood Exosome Capture Technology
Innovating Cancer Tracking and Treatment Monitoring
Early detection is survival when it comes to lung cancer, and now it can be found faster and more accurately.
A UNIST startup has achieved success in expanding overseas after its commercialization potential was recognized in the United States.
ExoDiscovery Technologies, a startup established in the United States based on the exosome non-destructive capture technology developed by Professor Cho Yoonkyung's laboratory at the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNIST (President Chong Rae Park), has been selected as a supported company by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).
ExoDiscovery Technologies demonstrated strong competitiveness in this evaluation, which focused on early detection and treatment monitoring technology for non-small cell lung cancer. The company is developing a liquid biopsy-based platform, the ExoDiscovery Monitor (EDM), and has secured $4.02 million (approximately 5.5 billion KRW) in commercialization funding over the next three years.
CPRIT is the second largest cancer research institute in the United States after the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This year, it invested a total of $154 million in 73 projects, and ExoDiscovery ranked first among diagnostic and device companies supported in the Texas region.
The core technology captures exosomes in blood without damaging them. This preserves the microstructure of exosomes secreted by cancer cells, ensuring superior information retention and, as a result, higher diagnostic accuracy.
The system maintains a balanced sensitivity and specificity throughout the process, from early disease tracking to monitoring treatment response, which is considered a key strength. Based on this, the EDM system can read cancer-related genetic signals in exosomes from blood in real time, and is up to 10,000 times more sensitive than conventional circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) tests.
Test results can be delivered within a day, greatly accelerating the selection of anticancer drugs and evaluation of treatment responses. Costs are also reduced by about 80% compared to existing methods based on Medicare standards.
This year, ExoDiscovery Technologies established a CLIA-certified laboratory in Cedar Park, Texas, providing a foundation to offer diagnostic services even before FDA approval. This has enabled the company to create a structure for generating initial revenue.
Based on its service, the company plans to obtain medical device approval for its advanced reagents and equipment through the FDA, making them available in laboratories both domestically and internationally.
With CPRIT support, the company plans to focus on expanding the entire system over the next three years, including clinical application, building automated equipment, and advancing its technology. It is also pursuing clinical collaboration with the University of Texas Medical School, joint development with local companies, and preparing to expand the application of its technology to diseases beyond cancer.
The company originated from LabSpinner, an exosome-specialized company founded in 2018. LabSpinner acquired Professor Cho Yoonkyung's "lab-on-a-disk-based exosome separation technology" in 2019, and through the development of advanced diagnostic technology, it connected this to commercialization in the United States.
The development process received continuous support from the Ministry of Science and ICT's Small but Strong R&D Special Zone project. Last year, LabSpinner refined its U.S. market entry strategy through the UNIST-University of California San Diego (UCSD) Global Entrepreneur Accelerator (GEA) program.
Subsequently, the company expanded its network by overcoming fierce competition in major accelerator programs such as Mass Challenge, New York University Enterprise Foundation Lab (NYU EFL), and BioTools. Building on these achievements, it established a U.S. corporation this year and relocated its headquarters to the United States.
In the first half of this year, it was selected for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's "Smart Healthcare System Development Based on Urine Analysis" project, securing 5.5 billion KRW in support over the next five years. Currently, it is accelerating its global market expansion as a board member company of the Exosome Industry Council.
Kim Youngsik, Director of the UNIST Industry-Academia Cooperation Foundation, said, "This selection is an example of a virtuous cycle, where UNIST technology leads to startups and then grows further overseas. Entering a U.S. public project based on support from the Small but Strong R&D Special Zone proves the successful global expansion potential of UNIST startups."
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