Established in 2007, nanoTherics has moved into innovation centre 4 (IC4) at KUSBP to accommodate its growing team and benefit from larger and more advanced laboratory facilities. It is using its new base to grow sales of a range of products that are based on ‘nanomagnetic’ technology which offers faster, more efficient ways to improve research into genetic disease disorders.
Critical to this research is a process called transfection – the technology allowing DNA and other biomaterials to be placed inside a target cell. nanoTherics provides a range of unique, magnet array devices that enable transfection to be performed faster, more efficiently and with better cell viability than existing technologies.

The team of eight is led by CEO Dr. Linda Cammish who has ambitious plans for the company. She said: “We’ve received two rounds of funding over the last three years which has enabled us to steadily expand, so we outgrew our academic base at Keele University in January 2012. We needed 50 per cent more laboratory space to support the launch of our new products which KUSBP could offer us immediate access to. With the funding and facilities now in place, we’re looking to significantly increase our turnover next year and broaden our geographical spread by driving sales internationally, most specifically targeted both in Europe and America.”

The arrival of nanoTherics at KUSBP means that IC4 is now fully let. The innovation centre is designed to serve medical technology businesses of all sizes, offering state-of-the art laboratories and high-quality office space. Tenants also get access to a range of support services offered by KUSBP including funding and facilities management.

Caroline Mairs, head of KUSBP commented: “nanoTherics is an excellent example of the cutting-edge technology that is coming out of UK universities. A successful spin out such as nanoTherics can play a vital role in the local and wider economy, providing commercial research that is making a genuine difference to the medical research industry and an environment that has the potential to attract a talented pool of employees.”

“We’re delighted to welcome the company to KUSBP and look forward to helping support its future expansion.”

These new, compact devices offer gene transfection with improved efficiencies and cell viabilities, even with a range of difficult cell types including neuronal and primary cells. They use a unique technology which applies oscillating magnet arrays to promote magnetic nanoparticle/DNA uptake into cells to improve non-viral gene transfection, whilst maintaining high cell viability. They are simple to use with low running costs (as low as $0.1 per transfection) providing improved transfection efficiency and effectiveness over the best currently available cationic lipids at short transfection times (<30 minutes). They allow retransfection as well as adherent state transfection for user flexibility. The magnefect-nano II DUO has been launched as a higher throughput version of the magnefect-nano II, which the Company introduced in September 2011, and provides full flexibility with interchangeable 2×6, 24 and 96-well magnet array formats and variable oscillating frequency capability to enable researchers to optimise protocols to maximise transfections specifically for the cell types they are using. The magnefect-LT DUO is a lower cost system which has been launched as a higher throughput version of the magnefect-LT, which the Company introduced in January 2011, with fixed frequency oscillating frequency and fixed 2×6-well or 2×24-well or 2×96-well magnet array formats.
Dr Linda E Cammish, Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are very pleased to add the magnefect-nano II DUO and the magnefect LT DUO to our product portfolio to enable our customers to not only improve transfection efficiencies with hard to transfect cells such as neuronal and primary cells but also to increase the throughput of the transfection experiments they are conducting”. She added, “The systems have been designed as a direct result of customer feedback. They are compact systems with all of the advantages of the magnefect-nano II and the magnefect LT oscillating magnet assisted transfection devices such as the high transfection efficiencies and cell viabilities, short transfection times and low running costs but with higher though-put capability.”

Dr Linda E Cammish, Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are delighted to be adding the magnefect-nano II to our product portfolio to enable our customers to improve transfection efficiencies in their research even with hard to transfect cells such as neuronal and primary cells”. She added, “The system has been designed as a direct result of customer feedback to provide a more compact system reducing the valuable laboratory bench and incubator space needs by users. It continues to offer the benefits that oscillating magnet assisted transfection provides such as the high transfection efficiencies and cell viabilities, short transfection times and low running costs.”