Nanomedical Diagnostics, Focused on Nanotechnology and Lyme Disease Diagnostics, About to Launch
September 18, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
After forming in late 2013, Nanomedical Diagnostics Inc., headquartered in San Diego, Calif. is ready to launch. The company, founded by Ross Bundy and Brett Goldsmith, is focused on developing and commercializing bioelectronics for both research and diagnostics.
The company’s top priority is finalizing AGILE Research product design and working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Stanford University on evaluating it. The company has inked a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the CDC to evaluate direct electronic detection of Borrelia burgdorferi antigens to diagnose Lyme disease.
In terms of clinical diagnostics, Lyme disease is difficult to diagnose. Clinically, its symptoms are similar to many other diseases. Current tests evaluate immune system response, not the bacteria. Because the immune system doesn’t respond quickly to the bacteria, current diagnostics isn’t accurate until four to six weeks after initial infection. They also do not evaluate well for eradication of the disease because antibodies stay in the bloodstream, giving positive results. If effective, Agile Research would directly identify presence of the Borrelia burgdorferi.
AGILE Research utilizes a graphene biological field effect transistor (BioFET) technology. The idea, apparently, is to develop electronic devices, perhaps handheld and utilizing mobile technology, to perform biological testing. It is expected to launch in early 2016. It is described as a “label-free, quantitative, easy-to-use research solution in the format of a portable, disposable 96-well plate. Each of the 96 wells uses a single sample volume and contains three AGILE sensors that independently verify binding events. The biosensor can deliver accurate results for a total of 288 interactions in as little as 15 minutes.”
“We have a powerful, far-reaching technology that can reshape the future of personal health,” said Bundy, the company’s chief executive officer in a statement. “We’re linking biology directly with electronics; it’s a brand new method of biomolecule monitoring that heralds a new generation of diagnostic capabilities. It’s the next step after genomics.”
In May, the company released Form D, indicating it intended to raise $2.29 million in financing. At that point, it had raised $1.08 million, or 46.94 percent of the fundraising offer. Octa Finance noted in May that, on average, firms similar to Nanomedical Diagnostics typically sell 85.80 percent of the total offering size, and that the Nanomedical offering was “30.19 percent smaller than the average of $1.54 million. Of course this should not be taken as negative. Businesses get financed for a variety of reasons and needs.”
Nanomed came out of EvoNexus, a startup technology incubator in Southern California. The company indicates it combines biology, nanotechnology, surface chemistry, engineering, and manufacturing to create “practical and scaleable graphene biological field effect transistor (BioFET) products.”
The company has developed a number of partnerships, including the U.S. Navy, Tulane University, Varasco Engineering, Abbott, SPAWAR: Systems Center Pacific, Oxide Nano Electronics Laboratory, and Kyocera.