nanoTherics wins development grant

Development grant

nanoTherics, a scientific medical research devices company founded in 2007 following on from research at Keele University, UK, and the University of Florida, has won a Research & Development Grant from the regional development agency Advantage West Midlands (AWM). The grant will enable the company to develop additional novel gene transfection technologies to augment the its existing product portfolio.

nanoTherics’s primary business is the supply of improved scientific devices and associated products to research laboratories in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries as well as academia. The products apply a patent-pending technology using nanoparticles and magnetic fields to facilitate enhanced delivery of biomolecules, such as DNA, into living cells. The approach could bring more effective non-viral gene therapy, an area demanding safer technology to treat genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis.

Linda Cammish, Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are very pleased to have been successful in obtaining this grant which provides further external validation of the value of the systems we are developing to offer improvements in transfection technologies to researchers in the growing life science sector. The due diligence that is part of the application process and the rigorous nature of the AWM grant conditions means that our success is a fantastic endorsement.”

Steve Hines, from the Access to Finance team at AWM, said: "Grants for R&D allow AWM to share some of the risks of R&D activity in SME companies, bringing forward innovative products and services which are key to the successful economic future of the region. Companies like nanoTherics recognise R&D as essential to their economic growth and we are delighted to support this project which will provide a significant advance in technology.”

He added, “We aim to make a difference by encouraging commitment to innovation through our grants which enables work to be done earlier than some companies could otherwise perhaps afford, often helping to leverage in external finance into early stage enterprises. Boosting innovation is also a way of addressing the West Midlands economic output.”