Nanogen, Inc.,
developer of advanced diagnostic products, announced today that it has agreed
to provide $300,000 of funding over a two-year period to support the
nanotechnology research of Michael Heller, Ph.D., professor in the Department
of Bioengineering at Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California,
San Diego (UCSD) and cofounder of Nanogen. Dr. Heller's research under this
grant will focus on exploring further use of electric field-based technology
for nanofabrication and assembly of nanostructures as well as the integration
of nanostructures with other devices. The funding will be used to advance
nanotechnology and nanofabrication applications that are related to the
intellectual property position held by Nanogen and UCSD while the company
focuses its internal efforts on commercial products for medical diagnostics.
"This agreement allows us to support the pioneering work of Dr. Heller and
the University," said Howard Birndorf, chairman and chief executive officer of
Nanogen, Inc., who further stated his belief that, "Nanotechnology
applications will be the key to future advances in medical research. We
believe that development of nanotechnology will enable highly sophisticated,
cost efficient point-of-care diagnostics."
"I am very pleased that Nanogen has agreed to provide this two-year
funding to support the nanotechnology research of Dr. Michael Heller," said
Shu Chien, M.D., Ph.D., chair of UCSD's Department of Bioengineering,
professor of Bioengineering and Medicine, and director of the Whitaker
Institute of Biomedical Engineering. "The Department of Bioengineering is
interested in fostering innovative research that can be translated to
industrial or clinical applications. Dr. Heller is doing cutting-edge
research that will advance our knowledge in the frontier areas of
nanotechnology and nanofabrication, and I look forward to seeing the fruits of
this academia-industry partnership, which will generate significant knowledge
in science and valuable benefits to people."
Dr. Heller's ongoing research is based on Nanogen's electric field-based
technology to demonstrate the application of this unique platform in
nanofabrication of precision nanoparticles. Nanogen's patent portfolio
currently includes over forty U.S. patents and patent applications based on
intellectual property developed by Dr. Heller; over ten of those relate to
work on nanofabrication he conducted while he was employed by the company.
Nanogen will have a priority position to obtain any intellectual property
rights developed under this current research agreement with UCSD.
Nanogen's advanced diagnostics provide physicians and patients worldwide
with sophisticated information to predict, diagnose and treat disease.
Research and clinical reference labs use the highly accurate and reliable
NanoChip Molecular Biology Workstation, NanoChip Electronic Microarrays
and analyte specific reagents to develop tests to detect mutations associated
with genetic diseases. The next generation instrument system, the NanoChip
400, is expected to be available in 2005. Nanogen's subsidiary SynX offers a
line of point-of-care diagnostic tests and is building expertise in cardiac
related health conditions. Nanogen's ten years of pioneering research
involving nanotechnology may also have future applications in medical
diagnostics, biowarfare and other industries. For additional information
please visit Nanogen's website at http://www.nanogen.com.
