EMPIRI Inc. Receives $2.594 Million CPRIT Grant to Advance Immunotherapy Response Prediction

HOUSTON, Texas – Nov. 19, 2025 – EMPIRI Inc., the pioneering company behind E-slice, today received a $2.594 million grant from the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). This grant will support the validation of E-slice as clinical diagnostic for immunotherapies in breast, renal, and lung cancers.

E-slice is an ex vivo assay that empirically measures a tumor’s response to therapeutics within days, enabling oncologists to select the best therapy for each patient. By preserving the native tumor microenvironment, including immune cells, E-slice is a faithful predictor of treatment response whose results can be used for immunotherapies as well as targeted therapies, ADCs, and combination therapies. E-slice is uniquely positioned to both identify which treatments are the best option for each patient as well as to reduce the risk, cost, and time to bring new therapeutics to market.

Funding from CPRIT will accelerate the clinical validation of E-slice, supporting research that will lead to more effective and tailored immunotherapy strategies. “With E-slice, we are working to unlock the full potential of immunotherapy by identifying the patients who will respond best, reducing unnecessary treatments, and improving clinical outcomes,” said Dave Gallup, CEO of EMPIRI Inc.

About EMPIRI:

EMPIRI is a Houston-based company whose mission is to improve cancer care by making the best use of current therapeutics while accelerating the timeline for new ones. EMPIRI’s E-slice assay, an ex vivo avatar which predicts treatment response, can transform the cancer continuum, from accelerating, de-risking, and reducing the cost of drug development through personalized treatment selection for patients.

For more information about EMPIRI and E-slice, visit: https://www.empiricancer.com/

About CPRIT:

The Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) is a state agency dedicated to advancing innovative cancer research and prevention programs in Texas. This grant is part of CPRIT’s ongoing commitment to supporting breakthroughs that improve patient outcomes and drive the future of cancer care.

For more information about CPRIT and their funded projects, visit: https://www.cprit.texas.gov/grants-funded/

EMPIRI, Inc. Selected into the 2025 BioTools Innovator Cohort

We are incredibly honored to be named one of just 31 companies in the prestigious BioTools Innovator 2025 cohort, selected from over 420 applicants worldwide!  This highly competitive program, run by the premier global accelerator for life science tools and diagnostics, recognizes the most innovative early-stage companies poised to transform healthcare. 

At EMPIRI, our E-Slice platform is revolutionizing functional precision diagnostics by enabling real-time, ex vivo testing of intact patient tumors—without dissociation or artificial growth factors. This technology delivers actionable insights for oncology drug development and personalized treatment in just 4-8 days, preserving the native tumor microenvironment for unparalleled accuracy. 

Being chosen from such a competitive pool (less than 20% of applicants even make it to the live pitch stage!) validates the potential of E-Slice to reshape preclinical drug discovery and clinical oncology. We’re excited to engage with BioTools Innovator’s world-class mentors, investors, and industry leaders to accelerate our mission of improving patient outcomes.

A huge thank you to BioTools Innovator for this opportunity and to our team for their relentless dedication. Stay tuned for updates as we leverage this platform to drive EMPIRI’s growth and impact! 

EMPIRI Co-founder Dr. Kyuson Yun Named as a 2025 Beneficiary in Men of Distinction Program, Benefiting Medical Research and Treatment for Children

Associate Professor in the Department of Neorology, Houston Methodist, Weill Cornell Medical College Inaugural Chair of Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Houston MethodistCofounder, biotech company EMPIRI

Kyuson Yun, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at the Houston Methodist and Weill Cornell Medical College. She is also the inaugural Houston Methodist Chair of Neurodegenerative Disease Research, and a cofounder of a biotech company EMPIRI. She received her B.S. and Ph.D. in Biology from Caltech (California Institute of Technology) in Pasadena, CA. She continued her postdoctoral training at UCSF and then at Dartmouth Medical School. Prior to Houston Methodist, she was a faculty member at the Jackson Laboratory. Dr. Yun is an American Cancer Society Research Scholar and a member of the Scientific Advisory Council for the American Brain Tumor Association.

Her research interests have evolved over the years, from neural stem cell regulation and brain development to cancer stem cells in brain tumors to tumor:immune interactions. Currently, her lab is focused on elucidating the sex biased role of the immune system in brain cancer and neurodegeneration. Her lab leverages their expertise in mouse genetics, mouse modeling, 3D cultures, single cell and spatial transcriptomics analyses, and nanomedicine. Her lab studies molecular, cellular, and functional heterogeneity of various cell types in the diseased and healthy brain and nerves. They also leverage a vast amount of single cell data in different disease states to decipher cell:cell interactions that are in common and unique to GBM, medulloblastoma, Alzheimer’s disease, Charcot Marie Tooth disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases to discover new therapeutic targets.

For more information: https://menofdistinction.org/beneficiaries/