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MEDFORD, Mass., Feb. 2, 2004 — While most nanotech companies attempt to build things up from the bottom, Evolved Nanomaterial Sciences Inc. is approaching the nanoscale from the opposite end.
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This three-person spinout from Tufts University was founded on the belief that there is a lucrative business in breaking things down.
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ENS pegs its fortunes on separating organic molecules known as chirals into smaller, more useful pieces. It has developed a technology that prods polymers to assemble into nanoscale scaffolding, which then catches chirals moving through the structure and splits them into their useful parts.
Chief executive Robert Toker likes to call ENS the first “true” nanotech company: a nanosize solution to handle nanosize materials, which in turn creates nanosize results.
Chiral molecules are shaped as one structure with two “sides,” called enantiomers, that are mirror images of each other. For reasons scientists don’t yet fully fathom, a chiral typically has one enantiomer that is far more chemically reactive than the other. The challenge is to separate the two, so scientists can study the active enantiomer and discard the other.
ENS’ polymers self-assemble into scaffolds with various channels and pores along the structure, some as small as 11 nanometers wide. The walls of the channels are studded with receptors; as chirals are forced through the channels, the receptors bind to the desired enantiomer while the remainder washes away. By changing the makeup of the polymers involved, the scaffolds separate specific chirals as needed.
Exactly how ENS can tune its polymers to create structures and pores of specific nanoscale dimensions, Toker won’t say. He does admit that ENS’s fundamental approach — catching chirals in a net rather than separating them chemically — is likely to draw stares at first. He expects to lure drug-discovery researchers in small numbers, convincing them of the technology’s merits.
“A lot of what we’re doing is really nonobvious. … Adoption will be an issue for us,” he said.
Chirals must be separated so the undesirable enantiomer will not disrupt the patients. The infamous drug thalidomide, for example, had one enantiomer that worked as a sedative for pregnant women — but nobody knew its other enantiomer could cause birth defects in a fetus until infants were born without limbs.
In 1992, the Food and Drug Administration ruled that any drug exploiting chirals must be studied to see how both enantiomers affect the body. Pharmaceutical companies, therefore, have a strong incentive to separate chirals and pursue only the one they want.
A variety of techniques already exist to separate chirals: binding a chiral to silica gels and then using catalysts to separate them (similar to ENS’ idea); using enzymes to induce separation, or synthesizing one-handed chirals from scratch. None of those techniques are cheap, and none match the relatively simple process ENS claims to have perfected.
“There’s no doubt that if you could do it that way … that would be very helpful,” said Gregory Fu, a chemistry professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies chiral separation. (He is not familiar with ENS’ specific technology.)
The historically high cost of chiral separation has kept pharmaceuticals from developing many single-enantiomer drugs, but the market is huge. Lipitor and Zocor both fall into that category; their combined annual sales now top $14 billion.
Analysts at Frost & Sullivan estimate the market for chiral separation equipment stood at $800 million in 2003, growing at about 8 percent per year. Companies such as Avecia Pharmaceuticals, Chiral Technologies Inc. and Astec Inc. already hawk separation gear, although they use more mainstream technologies such as gas chromatography.
Toker believes that as the price of separation falls and chirals become more plentiful, researchers will give the compounds a second look. “There is a big push for chirals,” he said.
ENS’ technology could also be applied to biosensors or tissue engineering, but for now the tiny startup will focus on chiral separations while it looks for as much as $2 million in seed funding. For other applications, Toker said, “we’d have to bring additional force to bear on those” and likely license its technology to a larger partner.
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Company file: Evolved Nanomaterial Sciences Inc.
(last updated Feb. 2, 2004)
Company
Evolved Nanomaterial Sciences Inc.
Headquarters
4 Colby Street
Medford, MA 02155
History
ENS developed from the past decade of research undertaken by Tufts engineering professor Regina Valluzzi.
Industries served
ENS is targeting drug discovery as an initial application.
Employees
3
Small tech-related products and services
ENS has created a biopolymer-based process for working with organic compounds called chiral molecules, which contain “near-twin” components called enantiomers. Using biopolymers to create “nanoscaffolding”, the company forces chirals through the scaffolding to break the enantiomers apart. This allows scientists to take advantage of components that are medically beneficial while discarding components that carry negative consequences. Although drug discovery seems to be a prime focus for ENS’ technology, the company’s core competency has application beyond chiral separation, showing potential for use in filtration membranes, chemical processing, biosensors and tissue engineering, among others.
Management
Robert Toker: chief executive officer
Robert Pucciariello: chief financial officer
Regina Valluzzi: inventor and chief scientist
Financials
ENS is seeking approximately $2 million in seed funding. If applications for its biopolymer-based process develop beyond drug discovery, the company would consider licensing its technology to another firm.
Selected competitors
Barriers to market
ENS may struggle with technology adoption because their chiral separation process differs greatly from the typical chemical-based methods. Chiral separation has historically been very expensive; ENS will need to educate potential customers as to the value and simplicity of their new process.
Contact
URL: http://www.ensbiopolymers.com/
Phone: 617-320-0364
E-mail: [email protected]
— Research by Gretchen McNeely