MeCo CSO wins $2.5M NCI grant for breast cancer research

By AI, Created 1:21 PM UTC, June 03, 2026, /AGP/ – MeCo Diagnostics Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Ghassan Mouneimne has received a $2.5 million National Cancer Institute R01 grant to study how estrogen receptor signaling regulates breast cancer cell invasion. The work feeds into MeCo Diagnostics’ effort to link the MeCo Score with mechanical conditioning and future antifibrotic treatment strategies, including a planned Phase 2 trial later this year.

Why it matters: - The grant adds federal support for research that could clarify how tumor mechanics and fibrosis drive breast cancer progression. - The work may help strengthen the scientific basis for using the MeCo Score to guide antifibrotic therapy in oncology. - The availability of generic nintedanib in the U.S. could make repurposing studies more practical if the research supports that path.

What happened: - MeCo Diagnostics announced that Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Ghassan Mouneimne received $2.5 million from the National Cancer Institute. - The award is an R01 grant titled “The Role of Estrogen Receptor in Regulating Breast Cancer Cell Invasion.” - Mouneimne is an associate professor at the University of Arizona. - The research will examine the biological mechanisms behind mechanical conditioning, a biomechanical tumor phenomenon measured by the MeCo Score. - The project is a collaboration with Dr. Christian Franck, the Bjorn Borgen Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The details: - The funded work will focus on fibroblasts, tissue mechanics and fibrotic remodeling. - The project is designed to show how those factors shape tumor behavior and breast cancer progression. - The research supports a broader translational effort to study mechanical conditioning and tumor response to antifibrotic therapy. - Nintedanib is one therapy under evaluation in that effort. - MeCo Diagnostics said the recent U.S. availability of generic nintedanib creates new opportunities to test low-cost antifibrotic drug repurposing strategies. - MeCo Diagnostics Holdings is a San Diego-based seed-stage precision oncology company developing diagnostic tests to enable antifibrotic therapy across multiple cancer indications. - The company describes the MeCo Score as the first clinically validated predictive biomarker for antifibrotic therapy for breast cancer.

Between the lines: - The grant ties basic biology to a possible near-term clinical use case, which can help bridge laboratory findings and treatment decisions. - The focus on early-stage HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer suggests the company is aiming at a defined patient group where a biomarker-driven strategy could be tested. - If the planned trial supports the approach, MeCo Diagnostics could strengthen the case for antifibrotic therapy as a precision oncology tool rather than a broad experimental concept.

What’s next: - A prospective Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the MeCo Score and nintedanib is expected to open later this year at the University of Arizona Cancer Center. - The trial will study early-stage HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. - Further results from the NCI-funded research could inform how mechanical conditioning is measured and how antifibrotic therapy is selected.

The bottom line: - The NCI grant gives MeCo Diagnostics another research anchor as it tries to turn tumor mechanics into a clinically useful biomarker strategy.