A Google Search for Drug Discovery

It’s what scholars dream about: getting to work with the latest technology and leading researchers in the industry to develop a scientific breakthrough.

For Jason Gagliano, a biology graduate student at Wake Forest University, it’s a reality.

Gagliano is part of the physics department team at Wake Forest developing a technology called Next-Gen Lab-on-Bead. The tool uses next-generation genetic sequencing to make the drug development process thousands of times faster, much like a Google search.
  
“I usually just tell people I am trying to find new drugs for cancer,” he said.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded the team a $700,000 grant to bring Next-Gen Lab-on-Bead to market. The NIH awarded the funding through its Small Business Innovation Research program, and Wake Forest will share the funds with partner NanoMedica, a Winston-Salem company that has licensed the patent for Next-Gen Lab-on-Bead. Read More.

NanoMedica puts the focus on low-cost drug research

NanoMedica Inc. represents a poster child — albeit a small one — for the potential of Piedmont Triad Research Park attracting nonlocal life-science research companies.

The company, founded in New Jersey in 2001, moved to the park in early 2011 to work closely with Wake Forest University and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers. It has three employees, led by Roger Cubicciotti, its co-founder.

The company focuses on lower-cost ways to conduct nanotechnology and molecular biology research and produce breakthrough drug discoveries, particularly involving cancer.

What distinguishes NanoMedica from other startup biotech companies is the level of university personnel involved in its development, business strategy and planning. NanoMedica's contribution to the relationship includes placing more than $100,000 worth of equipment in the university's physics department. More.

NanoMedica to Present at Tech Briefing on September 15th

Doing more with less is frequently associated with corporate downsizing, budget cuts and many ramifications of the ailing economy.  How refreshing to find a company that is growing and innovating while doing more with less.  Winston-Salem based NanoMedica is an early stage biotechnology company focused on a reduction that everyone can appreciate… reducing the cost of drug discovery. Their mission is to help biopharmaceutical customers “discover more with less” – more useful compounds with less material, time and money. Useful compounds include new chemical probes of cellular function, ultrasensitive diagnostic reagents and target-directed molecules for studying and treating disease processes. Of particular interest are ligands (substance binding molecules) designed to specifically recognize and modulate cellular targets and pathways involved in the onset and progression of cancer. Their trademarked  “Lab-on-Bead™” technology allows nanoscale detection and characterization at the single-molecule level using thousands to millions of times less material than conventional methods – in short, discovering more with less™.
NanoMedica will present at the Chamber of Commerce Tech Briefing on September 15th.  The event will begin at 8 a.m at the Benton Convention Center.  Other technology companies presenting their latest ideas and innovations include:  Cook Medical; OnceLogix; Paragon Noise Barriers; SkinDeep FX; Small Footprint/Treks in the City; Stantec; Verbal Victor; and Virginia Tech/Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering.  For more information about the Tech Briefing:  http://www.winstonsalem.com/techbriefing.aspx