June 26, 2007 — Nantero Inc., known for its use of carbon nanotubes to develop next-generation semiconductor devices, has made a new deal to license rights to the newly formed company Alpha Szenszor Inc. for development of biomedical sensors. Nantero CEO and cofounder Greg Schmergel told Small Times that while his company has previously made licensing arrangements for memory applications, this is the first time Nantero has licensed technology in the field of sensors. Alpha Szenszor (Szenszor is pronounced “sensor”) is developing portable, low-cost detectors for infectious diseases such as HIV, as well as other products.
Alpha Szenszor’s co-founders include Steve Lerner, an industry veteran with over 28 years of product development and industrialization experience, and Professor Charles Lieber of Harvard University, world-renowned expert in the field of nanobio sensors.
Speaking to Small Times, Schmergel said that to make NRAM (its high-density nonvolatile memory device), Nantero had to develop a suite of technologies that would enable nanotubes to “get into semiconductor fabs” — for instance, spin coating on wafers; patterning; and high-speed, high-volume processing. “We realized that if we can use these processes for memory, we can use them for other applications,” he explained.
Schmergel added that nanotubes offer several advantages for sensor applications. “With a scalable process you can make small sensors in high volumes.” The nanotubes are functionalized in a way that resistance is changed — or some other signal is produced — when they come into contact with the agent or substance of interest. The nanotubes provide excellent sensitivity, and their small size enables the production of tiny arrays for detection of multiple phenomena.
In the case of Alpha Szenszor — with its promise to diagnose HIV, cancer, and heart disease; distinguish between cold and flu; etc., all this adds up to a major convenience for the consumer. According to Schmergel, Alpha Szenszor intends to have products commercially available within a couple of years.
Alpha Szenszor CEO Steve Lerner said, “. . . we are poised to bring revolutionary products to market in a very short time frame. We will enable portable disease testing that would be available through local pharmacies and allow anyone to test themselves with total privacy and at a low cost. When placed in the hands of the primary care physicians, we envision our technology becoming part of every patient check-up.”
Professor Charles Lieber, Co-Founder of Alpha Szenszor, added, “The Nantero technology provides a highly industrialized platform through which my years of work may be applied to facilitate this revolution in global health care.”
Nantero’s Schmergel, noted “…we have to pick carefully the right partners who have the capability to bring products to market that will add substantial value to their customers. We believe Alpha Szenszor is such a partner.”
Nantero’s intellectual property includes over 100 patent applications, of which over 25 have already been granted.