There's tremendous hype about the promise of nanotechnology in medicine. Now, the companies pioneering the field have to prove the promise can become a reality.
Among the players making the rounds at the Biotechnology Industry Organization convention in Philadelphia is William Moffitt, president and chief executive officer of Nanosphere, a startup looking to use nanotechnology to revolutionize the medical-testing industry. "Nanotech is going to create the next major advance in diagnostics," Moffitt says.
Certainly, the need is great. For some cancers, the protein in the blood that serve as markers for the disease aren't easily detected in the early stages. So by the time those proteins are finally spotted, the cancer may have progressed to a dangerous level. In ovarian cancer, for example, researchers are studying a hormone called Inhibin A as a possible marker for the disease. But with current technology, that hormone in the blood typically isn't detectable until the cancer is far advanced. Under these conditions, the five-year survival rate is less than 30%.
