Tag Archives: Small Times Magazine

Jan. 12, 2006 — QuantumSphere Inc., a manufacturer of metallic nanopowders, announced that George Olah has joined its scientific advisory board.

Olah, recipient of the 1994 Nobel Prize in chemistry, is the director of the University of Southern California’s Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute and is a distinguished professor in Organic Chemistry.

QuantumSphere supplies magnetic, conductive and catalytic metallic nanopowders, including nickel, silver, copper, cobalt and other proprietary nanoscale alloys. Its metals and nanometal alloys are intended as replacements for a significant portion of platinum, currently the main catalyst in a variety of fuel cells. The company says the materials will also be used in high performance batteries.

Jan. 12, 2006 — Lumera Corp. (NASDAQ: LMRA), a Bothell, Wash., nanotechnology company, announced that it has entered into a collaborative agreement with Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Institute of Proteomics, a division of the medical school.

Under the agreement, Lumera and the medical school will develop a next generation silicon chip substrate that combines Lumera’s NanoCapture technology with the medical school’s methodology for nucleic acid programmable protein arrays, or NAPPA.

The collaboration is intended to result in a 10,000-spot protein array that could significantly increase the speed of drug discovery and life science research.

Jan. 12, 2006 — Starpharma Holdings Ltd., a Melbourne, Australia, developer of nanotechnology solutions for pharmaceuticals, announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track status to VivaGel, an investigational new drug for the prevention of HIV.

VivaGel’s new drug application will receive priority review, which has a shorter review time, said John Raff, Starpharma chief executive, in a prepared statement. The status will also provides more opportunity for Starpharma to communicate with the FDA.

VivaGel is currently being developed as a vaginal microbicide gel to prevent the transmission of genital herpes and HIV. The company was also recently awarded $20 million by the U.S.-based NIAID, a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to accelerate its development.

Jan. 12, 2006 — JMAR Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: JMAR) announced it has completed its move into its new product development and headquarters building located in San Diego.

The 23,000 square foot facility brings together JMAR’s BioSentry product development team, its Compact X-ray Microscope and X-ray Nano Probe research and development team, and its corporate office into one center.

The building is arranged to provide a mix of shared and special purpose facilities, according to the company. Mechanical and electrical laboratories, a customer training room, and machine shop are shared by all product lines. A specialized biological lab is intended to enable the BioSentry team to expand their pathogen library faster and at lower cost. Specialized laser labs are intended to provide the X-ray products group with state-of-the-art product development and testing facilities.

Jan. 12, 2006 – Photronics Inc. (Nasdaq: PLAB), a supplier of photomask-based imaging solutions for the electronics and display industries, announced plans to build a photomask fabrication facility in Korea to support the development and volume production of photomask technologies required to produce semiconductors utilizing 65 nanometer and 45 nanometer and below production processes.

The company said it is in the final stages of securing a site suitable for supporting the facility. A ground breaking ceremony is being planned for late in the second half of 2006 with construction slated to be completed in the second half of calendar 2007. Photronics expects that over the next several years investment in the new infrastructure, which will include the redeployment of certain manufacturing systems and process technologies, could range between $150 million and $300 million.

Jan. 11, 2006 — Boston Micromachines Corp., a Watertown, Mass., provider of MEMS products for adaptive optics systems, announced the Mini-DM, a new MEMS deformable mirror.

The company says the mirror is cost effective and offers high resolution. It is slated for use in microscopes, telescopes, and ophthalmic instruments.

“Because the Mini-DM is a true off-the-shelf product with high performance and a low price tag it allows researchers to accomplish ‘proof-of-principle’ experiments without the investment formerly required,” said Paul Bierden, president and CEO of Boston Micromachines, in a prepared statement. “This product will extend the range of applications for which adaptive optics is economical.”

Jan. 10, 2006 – Elan Corp. plc (NYSE: ELN) and EntreMed Inc. (NASDAQ: ENMD) announced they have entered into a license agreement in which EntreMed has been granted rights to use Elan’s proprietary nanocrystal technology to develop the oncology product candidate Panzem NCD (2ME2 or 2-methoxyestradiol).

Under the terms of the agreement, Elan is eligible to receive payments upon the achievement of clinical, manufacturing, and regulatory milestones. Additionally, Elan will receive royalty payments based on sales of Panzem NCD.

Elan will manufacture EntreMed’s Panzem NCD, a nanocrystal technology formulation with improved bioavailability and absorption. Other marketed pharmaceutical products in the United States using Elan’s nanocrystal technology include TriCor (marketed by Abbott), Megace ES (marketed by Par Pharmaceuticals), and Rapamune (marketed by Wyeth).

Jan. 9, 2006 – Integral Vision Inc. (OTC.BB: INVI) of Farmington Hills, Mich., announced that it has received a repeat order for a SharpEye inspection system to be used for the inspection of MEMs displays.

The SharpEye product provides analysis of functional and cosmetic defects in the display to assure quality in the manufacturing process. The displays are expected to be used in handheld devices, according to a prepared statement by Charles Drake, chairman and CEO.

Jan. 6, 2006 — Acacia Research Corp. (Nasdaq:ACTG, CBMX) announced that its CombiMatrix group has launched a series of catalog microarrays specifically designed for microRNA analysis.

MicroRNAs are small, RNA molecules encoded in the genomes of plants and animals that regulate the expression of genes and are believed to be critical to controlling physiology in areas that include neural development, viral disease, and cancer.

Jan. 6, 2006 — Lux Research, a nanotechnology research and advisory firm, announced a quarterly update to its Lux Nanotech Index.

Index components are split into two groups — nanotech specialists and end-use incumbents. Specialists account for 75 percent of the weighted index, while end-use incumbents account for 25 percent.

In the nanotech specialists category, the company added Arrowhead Research and removed SkyePharma. Lux said in a press release that Arrowhead now met its inclusion criteria while SkyPharma’s focus on nanoparticulate drug solubilization has steadily declined.

In the end-use incumbents category, the company added Toyota and Intel and removed GM and NEC. Lux said Toyota is better positioned to pursue next-generation nanotech applications in automotive than GM. It said Intel has been added because it increasingly focuses on new innovations like carbon nanotube-based electronics, but that NEC’s leadership position has eroded because proposed nano-based products have taken more time than expected.