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nanoTherics Wins Research & Development Grant from Advantage West Midlands to Further Augment Gene Transfection Product Portfolio

nanoTherics, a scientific medical research devices company founded in 2007 following on from cutting-edge biomedical research conducted at Keele University and the University of Florida, is delighted to announce it has been awarded a Research & Development (R&D) Grant from the regional development agency Advantage West Midlands (AWM). The grant will enable the Company to progress development of additional novel gene transfection technologies to augment the Company’s existing product portfolio which already offers significant advantages over other methodologies on the market.

nanoTherics’s primary business is supply of improved scientific devices and associated products to research laboratories in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries as well as academia. The Company’s products apply a patent-pending technology using nanoparticles and magnetic fields to facilitate enhanced delivery of biomolecules, such as DNA, into living cells. The medium to long-term opportunity for this approach relates to more effective non-viral gene therapy, an area demanding safer technology to treat genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis.

Dr Linda Cammish, Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are very pleased to have been successful in obtaining this grant which provides further external validation of the value of the systems we are developing to offer improvements in transfection technologies to researchers in the growing life science sector. The due diligence that is part of the application process and the rigorous nature of the AWM grant conditions means that our success is a fantastic endorsement”. She added, “The grant will enable us to ensure our technologies will continue to offer improvements and significant advantages to end-users of our systems. We aim to introduce a range of products which will shortly be initiated with the launch of the magnefectnano, a flexible device which provides up to 1000-fold better transfection efficiency than cationic lipid agents for short transfection times.”

Steve Hines, from the Access to Finance team at AWM, said: “Grants for R&D allow AWM to share some of the risks of R&D activity in SME companies, bringing forward innovative products and services which are key to the successful economic future of the region. Companies like nanoTherics recognise R&D as essential to their economic growth and we are delighted to support this project which will provide a significant advance in technology.”

He added, “We aim to make a difference by encouraging commitment to innovation through our grants which enables work to be done earlier than some companies could otherwise perhaps afford, often helping to leverage in external finance into early stage enterprises.

Boosting innovation is also a way of addressing the West Midlands economic output. We’re proud to be supporting innovative firms in the region, such as nanoTherics, and believe innovation is a great way of driving the economy as well as improving quality of life.”