Tyneside firm's Far East venture opens whole new world for diagnostic devices

Tyneside firm has joined forces with a leading Japanese electronics manufacturer to develop a new range of ground-breaking, hi-tech devices to provide "nearer the patient" diagnoses of a range of diseases.

With the help of UK Trade & Investment's "Passport to Export" programme, early-stage nano biotechnology firm Orla Protein Technologies Ltd (Orla) has signed an agreement with the Japan Radio Co. Ltd (JRC), in Tokyo, to develop the new devices that can be used by doctors and paramedics to allow earlier and more effective treatment forpatients, without the need for complex equipment.

Simple to use, small, low-cost and portable the devices can provide instant test results for viruses, bacteria and protein markers. Test results will be stored electronically and can be capable of wireless transmission, opening significant opportunities in the multi-million dollar diagnostics market.

Dale Athey, Chief Executive at Orla, explained:"This is a very exciting development for Orla and we are honoured to have a partner such as JRC. Their expertise in mass manufacture and sensor technology, combined with Orla's novel bio surface technology provides a fantastic opportunity to create a leading position in the bio diagnostic market."

Jeff Sanders, one of UK Trade & Investments International Trade Advisers, said: "We have been working with Orla for the past five years and have helped them develop a comprehensive export plan, that helped maximise the support available through UK Trade & Investment, including its Passport to Export programme.

"This carefully planned approach to international trade has been vital element of the company's success and its great to see that their hard work is now paying dividends. The partnership with JRC is an important development and we will continue to offer all the support we can to ensure its on going success."

New healthcare technology development project launched to improve patient outcome and the success rate of haematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT)

€3.5 million research and development programme is launched today to improve the success rate of stem cell transplants, including bone marrow transplants for Leukaemia patients. Professor Anne Dickinson, Haematological Sciences, Newcastle University, leads the programme in partnership with a consortium of 13 leading European clinical research institutes and biotech firms.

Known as StemDiagnostics, the consortium will aim to identify new bio-markers (indicators of transplant rejection and clinical complications) and develop medical diagnostic tests that will help practitioners to improve the success rate of allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT), treatments for life threatening medical conditions and cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma and inherited immune disorders.

Around 7,000 such transplants take place throughout Europe each year, but the survival rate is low (40 – 60 per cent) and decreases rapidly with patient age. The application of HSCT therapy is also hampered by the lack of suitable matched donors: only 25 –30 per cent of patients find a compatible sibling donor.

Such transplants involve the use of bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cells and umbilical cord blood as stem cell sources. The project, which follows 3 year’s research by Professor Dickinson and the Consortium, aims to develop tests with the use of the latest bionano and lab-on-a-chip techniques provided by SMEs such as Orla Protein Technologies, also based in North East England. Cenamps, a Newcastle-based centre for emerging umbilical cord blood as stem cell sources. The project, which follows 3 year’s research by Professor Dickinson and the Consortium, aims to develop tests with the use of the latest bionano and lab-on-a-chip techniques provided by SMEs such as Orla Protein Technologies, also based in North East England. Cenamps, a Newcastle-based centre for emerging technologies, will handle commercialisation aspects of the project’s outcomes.

Professor Anne Dickinson, commented: “The project is the first of its kind to bring together research looking at a variety of different biomarkers – or indicators of post transplant complications. These include DNA and proteins. From this work, we hope to be able to develop new diagnostic tools using genomics, proteomics, in vitro bioassays and biochips, to aid in earlier clinical intervention by predicting any complications which may arise in our bone marrow transplant patients.”

StemDiagnostics will develop new proteomic, biological and genomic tests for predicting patient response prior to transplant and subsequently for monitoring of patient response to novel therapeutics for the most severe complication of HSCT – graft versus host disease (GvHD). The consortium aims to bring to the clinic the next generation of diagnostics tests for use in HSCT.
To meet this challenge, StemDiagnostics brings together five of European’s leading small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with expertise in genomic and proteomic testing, diagnostic assay development and biochips, with clinical partners selected for their world-leading research in HSCT and access to clinical samples and patient groups. The SMEs include Mosaiques Diagnostics, Multimmune, IMGM Laboratories, Apotech and Orla Protein Technologies.

Shak Gohir, Business & Programme Manager at Cenamps, added: “We’re extremely excited to see such a life enhancing and life saving research being led from here - the North East of England. StemDiagnostics very much aligns with Cenamps’ core objectives to stimulate and connect research conducted in some Europe’s leading universities and research institutions to resolve issues and challenges that clearly address the real and wider needs of society.”

The programme is funded by the European Commission to the tune of €2.5M over next three years, through the EU Sixth Framework Programme under the Life Sciences and Health theme. The consortium provides for the remaining investment.

Shak Gohir
Business & Programme Manager

Career Opportunity: BioNano Commercialisation Manager with Cenamps

Cenamps is a unique company. We connect regional and national economic strategies with emerging technological capabilities and market drivers to help businesses to succeed through the innovation of high value processes, products and services. Due to the recent award of major technology projects and our subsequent, and continual, growth we are seeking to recruit four individuals to join our highly talented and dedicated team. We are seeking to hire a NanoBio Commercialisation Manager.

The successful candidate will actively lead the early-stage technology commercialisation activities of Cenamps BioNano research and innovation projects and be responsible for Cenamps IP portfolio and interests. Applicants must demonstrate experience in the innovation and commercialisation of emerging healthcare technologies such as lab-on-a-chip devices, biomaterials and sensors and/or other medical devices ideally gained by working in industry and will be skilled in focusing research and innovation activities in alignment with identified needs and market drivers.

The successful candidate will work on a number of high profile regional and European research projects, engaging closely with our academic and industrial partners to drive forward commercialisation strategies, uncover routes to market, identifying specific technologies requiring IP protection, publishing thought leadership articles and presenting at international conferences. Two of our high profile European projects aim to innovate new medical devices for diagnosing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and improving patient outcomes from haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) treatment.

With an established network of contacts, the Commercialisation Manager will be adept at generating, shaping and following through on new project and business opportunities. Experience in proposal development, venture capital, government R&D grants and medical device regulations is strongly preferred, in addition to knowledge of the medical sciences and trends in the healthcare sector. Across a number of key industries including energy, health and chemicals, an important aspect of the opportunity will be to assist and mentor high-tech SMEs on technology innovation, investment sources, partner searching and commercialisation. Candidates with a MBA and PhD in relevant fields, with experience gained from industry, are strongly preferred.

Cenamps on YouTube: Stimulating Innovation and New Ventures

Using Nanotechnology to Improve Health in Developing Countries

Millions of people die each year in developing countries from diseases that are preventable and treatable. Moreover, tragically little research is done to prevent or cure some of the world’s biggest killers, such as malaria and tuberculosis.

What if doctors in Kenya could equip cells of the retina with photoswitches that can be flipped on, essentially making blind nerve cells see and restoring light sensitivity in people with degenerative blindness? What if public health workers in Bangladesh could place contaminated water into transparent bottles, which when placed in direct sunlight could disinfect the water and help prevent water-borne diseases like cholera, dysentery or polio?

What if a medical technician in Vietnam could use a tiny "reporter" molecule that attaches itself to specific bacteria or viruses in a patient sample and read with an inexpensive laser device -- no bigger than a briefcase -- whether an infectious disease is present? What if a nurse in Brazil could dispense a gel that would stick to the AIDS virus surface like molecular Velcro and prevent it from attacking healthy cells in sexually active women?

These scenarios are not science fiction. They are just a few examples of the exciting potential of nanomedicine -- an offshoot of nanotechnology which researchers in both industrialized and developing countries hail as enabling the next big breakthroughs in medicine and which they promise to change virtually every facet of health care, disease control and prevention.

Several of the projects being financed by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s $450 million Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative involve nanotechnology including development of a nanoemulsion-based vaccine delivery system that uses a simple nasal swab rather than an injection.

What is nanotechnology? How is nanotechnology expected to transform medicine and health care in the future? How can nanomedicine help the truly needy in developing countries? And what are the challenges of ensuring that nanotechnology meets the specific health needs of Third World peoples? These questions are the focus of an event and live webcast on Tuesday, February 27th at 12:00 p.m. in the 5th Floor Conference Room of the Woodrow Wilson

International Center for Scholars (www.wilsoncenter.org/directions).

*** Webcast LIVE at http://www.wilsoncenter.org/nano ***

What: Using Nanotechnology to Improve Health Care in Developing Countries
Who: Dr. Andrew Maynard, Chief Science Advisor, Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies; Dr. Piotr Grodzinski, Director, Nanotechnology for Cancer Programs, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health; Dr. Peter A. Singer, Senior Scientist, McLaughlin Rotman Centre, University Health Network, Professor, University of Toronto, and Distinguished Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research; Dr. Jeff Spieler, Chief of Research, Technology & Utilization, Office of Population & Reproductive Health, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Moderator.

When: Tuesday, February 27th, 2007, 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. (Lunch available at 11:30 a.m.)

Where: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 5th Floor Conference Room. 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004

This event is being organized by the Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies and Global Health Initiative. The Center's Global Health Initiative provides an important forum to examine critical international health challenges including emerging health technologies and their impact on Third World medical care and economic development.

The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies was launched in 2005 by the Wilson Center and The Pew Charitable Trusts. It is dedicated to helping business, governments, and the public anticipate and manage the possible health and environmental implications of nanotechnology.
Media planning to cover the event should contact Sharon McCarter at (202) 691-4016 or sharon.mccarter@wilsoncenter.org.

Organiser: Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies and Global Health Initiative (http://www.wilsoncenter.org/nano)

Contact details
Sharon McCarter
Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholar
5th Floor Conference Room 1300
Pennsylvania Avenue
NW Washington, DC 20004
United States
E-mail: sharon.mccarter@wilsoncenter.org
Tel: 001-202-691-4016

DVT-IMP project website has just gone live

Cenamps is a member of the DVT-IMP project, a Framework Programme Six (FP6), collaborative reseach and innovation project. We are responsible for the management of the project, commercialisation of the resulting technologies and dissemination activities. The website for the project has just gone live:

• http://www.diagnosingdvt.com/
  

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major medical, societal and economic problem. Blood clots such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) are the biggest unexpected killers of hospitalised patients in developed countries.

This is one of the many reasons why the European Commission Information Society and Media Directorate General awarded €3.3 million to DVT-IMP, a consortium of ten leading European research groups and high-tech companies, to develop a prototype mobile, medical diagnostic device. The consortium members contributed €2.2 million to the project, bringing the total R&D investment to €5.5 million.

The 3-year DVT-IMP project, which started on 1st September 2006, aims to improve the reliability and accuracy of early-stage assessment of patients suspected of DVT and PE.

Shak Gohir

A Nanotechnology Consumer Product Inventory

The Project on Emerging Nanotechnology has recently updated its list of nanotech products currently on the market. The organization lists more than 350 consumer products that utlize nanoscale technologies. The list of products has increased significantly (70%) since the group first compiled its list in March 2006. Healthcare and Fitness products by far out number nano-based consumer applications compared to other sectors.

Most products in this inventory satisfy three criteria:
a) They can be readily purchased by consumers, and
b) They are identified as nano-based by the manufacturer OR another source, and
c) The nano-based claims for the product appear reasonable.

To view the list click here.

Shak Gohir

€5.5m mission to develop DVT detector small enough to fit in a pocket

To read the article published by Roger Highfield, Science Editor for the Daily Telegraph, on the 28th August 2006, please click here.

Our full news release:

The European Commission Information Society & Media Directorate General has awarded €3.3 million to a consortium of eleven leading European research and high-tech firms to innovate a digital, handheld, highly accurate medical device for diagnosing Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and Pulmonary Embolism. This adds to the consortium’s contribution of €2.2 million, bring the total R&D investment to €5.5 million.

From 1st September 2006, Cenamps, a national centre for emerging small-scale technologies, based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Helena Biosciences, a medical devices firm based in Gateshead; and the University of Teesside will lead a team of talented scientists to develop a prototype device for DVT/PE diagnosis. The consortium also includes Haptogen, a leading bio-pharmaceutical spin-out from the University of Aberdeen; the Fraunhofer Institute (Germany); the Pac Cientific de Barcelona (Spain); Claude-Bernard University-Lyon (France); Comenius University (Slovak Republic); Budapest University of Technology & Economics (Hungry); and Universite Paris-Sud (France).

AntiCoagulation Europe (ACE), a charity providing information and advice to people on oral anticoagulation therapy, will work closely with the consortium as both advisors and observers.

Medical tests currently used to detect the illness in patients at the point-of-care can be unreliable. Healthcare workers are referring suspected patients for expensive diagnostic imaging, with only 20 – 30 per cent of these patients actually being diagnosed with a blood clot. This places a heavy burden on healthcare resources. Anticoagulation drugs, which can have other unwanted medical side affects, are also administrated to suspected patients whilst they wait for diagnostic imaging.

The device promises to revolutionise the speed, accuracy and reliability with which DVT and related blood clot conditions can be diagnosed - at the point of first-contact. The handheld device will be the size of a mobile phone, enabling clinicians to use the device anywhere at any time: hospital, local clinics, A&E departments, doctors’ surgeries, home visits, outpatients and by paramedics on the move. The accuracy and reliability of its results will also help reduce related healthcare costs.

Deep vein thrombosis is a medical condition resulting from the formation of internal blood clots in the calf. If the clot becomes free and reaches the lung, it can lead to pulmonary embolism – an often fatal condition. Cramped conditions and the formation of internal blood clots have been shown to be closely linked.

DVT can occur after prolonged periods of travel on planes, trains and cars. It can also occur as a result of prolonged Internet surfing – a condition increasingly referred to as e-Thrombosis. Many factors increase the risk of blood clots forming, including: age, pregnancy, genetics, oral contraception, obesity, recent surgery and dehydration. Recent research has also suggested a person’s height may increase the risk – being very small or tall – and that people shorter than 1.6m (5ft 3in) and taller than 1.9 (6ft 3in) are five times and four times, respectively, more likely to suffer from DVT during and after a flight.

Blood clots such as DVT/PE are the biggest unexpected killer of hospitalised patients in developed countries such as the UK, France, Spain, Germany, US and Japan. During 2001, the number of reported incident cases of DVT/PE totalled 1.2 million in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, UK, Japan and the US alone. This figure is expected to rise to 1.4 million by 2011.

Using the latest advancements in polymer electronics, bio-molecular engineering, lab-on-a-chip, wireless ICT and nano-biotechnologies, the consortium will develop a prototype device that will detect D-dimer levels in blood. D-dimer is one of the smallest antigens found in human and animal blood. A positive D-dimer test is used to identify DVT and PE in at-risk patients.

Shak Gohir, Business and Programme Manager at Cenamps, commented:

“We’re extremely proud to have formed and now manage the DVT project, which promises to significantly improve the diagnosis and treatment of DVT and PE. The project is very much part of Cenamps’ remit to bring forward new enabling technologies - for example, through our establishment of a national Polymer Electronic Technology Centre in North East England - and demonstrates its importance to the UK research-base and economy.”

Professor Zulf Ali of University of Teesside, commented:

“As lead partners we are excited by the benefits and opportunities the project will create for improving healthcare systems in Europe and worldwide. North East England is a hotbed for emerging technologies and our consortium partners represent some of the most talented scientists and technologists in their field.”

Professor Andy Porter, Chief Scientific Officer at Haptogen, commented:

“Our consortium approach is to combine the latest developments in biotechnology with advances in materials science and computing. Haptogen’s science facilitates this fusion of biology with technology to allow rapid diagnosis of DVT at a patient’s bedside or possibly, in later versions, even in their own home.”

Eve Knight, Director, Anticoagulation Europe, said:

“This is a very exciting development in the fight against DVT, which claims the lives of thousands of people in the UK, every year. In recent years we have seen a number of high-profile cases involving young people who have been struck by the illness while receiving routine hospital treatment, and scientific evidence suggests that more people than ever are at risk. It is therefore extremely encouraging to know that scientists are now developing a point-of-care device that promises to save lives and healthcare resources across Europe. AntiCoagulation Europe is delighted to be working with the consortium on such an important and inovative project.”

Quantum Dots Pose Minimal Impact to Cells

Berkeley National Laboratory, CA, USA has presented data demonstrating that some of the current and understandable concerns about the risks of damage or disruption to living cells by nanoparticles may well be unfounded and opening the way to their being used to monitor cellular processes or the effect of pharmaceuticals in the living cell.

Posted by Amanda McMurray, Cenamps Commercialisation Manager

NanoMed 2006, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

With keynote presentations from UK and international industry and academia, NanoMed 2006 took place on 27th and 28th June 2006.

We were treated to a fascinating discussion of emerging technology for an aging population on Day 1 and, that same afternoon, we heard presentations on a range of new medical technologies, all based on emerging nanotechnologies, and a fascinating discussion of ethical issues relating to the use of energing technologies.

Day 2 began with presentations of research from international speakers and moved on to presentations of technology and business opportunities from regional small and large healthcare companies.

The conference ended with a business plan competition, "Angels' Den", in which three entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to present their business ideas to a panel of venture funding professionals and to the audience. All entrepreneurs received valuable feedback on their inventions and suggestions for next steps towards funding, and, after much discussion, a winner was chosen.

The winner, Profesor Sudipta Roy, presented "EnFACE", a new technology to be applied to development of new replacement joints and implants. The panel complemented her on her clear focus on the market opportunity, whilst still continuting to develop the technology. She won coaching sessions with two of the panel members, a free journal subscription and entry to next year's conference.

EnFACE was funded by Cenamps, as part of its BioNano Programme, which funded scientists in the 5 NE of England regional Universities to develop innovative solutions to biomedical industry needs.

Nanomed 2006 was sponsored by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, with partner Cenamps and endorsed by The Institute of Nanotechnology. Additional sponsors were the Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences (CELS), Harrison Goddard Foote, Newcastle City Council - City Technology Office and media partner, Dove Medical Press.

Dr. Amanda McMurray
NanoBio Commercialisation Manager.

Useful small-scale technologies

I would like to welcome you to Cenamps' blog.

This is Cenamps first online blog. Just as blogging enables new ways of communicating and is changing the future of news, information and publication sectors, Cenamps is about creating and commercialising new technologies that will utimately enhance the quality of our everyday lives, improve our health and establish smart work and home environments. Technologies that benefit society and create value for businesses.

We are a not-for-profit organisation established by One NorthEast during 2003 as a national centre for emerging small-scale technolgies, we are based in one of the UK's fast growing science cities - Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Situated in the North East of England, Newcastle is a city famous for its bridges and is no stranger to science, technology and engineering. It is home also to the Sage. Recently opened during 2005, the Sage houses two of the world best concert halls - just the venue for relaxing and listening to modern, contemporay and classical music.

Technology is the bedrock of economc development. At Cenamps we focus on stimulating technology research, development and commercialisation. We are about tiny or small-scale technologies often refer to as nanotechnologies and microtechnologies or collectively known as MNT. By stimulating technological innovations our aim is to strengthen the regional economy. In doing so our projects and activities are national and international in focus.

Hence, want really interests us are useful small-scale technologies. The emphasis here is on the word "useful". These are technologies that have potential to help solve known problems and global challenges as well as technologies for innovating new products and processes. So we are very much into collaboration, responsible innovation and market-led R&D. Gaining insights into business, economic, government and consumer trends and needs is crucial to us in identifing useful new technologies.

Polymer electronics is one such technology. Polymer electronics will transform the next generation of consumer electronic products - for example in innovating a plamtop with a flexible screen or an electronic newspapers that can simply be folded into your pocket.

Another useful set of technologies are mobile medical diagnostics and genomic technologies. These technologies have the potential to transform healthcare service to one that is more patient-centric, shifting the focus from "cure" to "prevention". They can also shift healthcare away from central hospitals to one where healthcare services are more pervasive and customised to our individual genetic makeup.

In all there are four interralated specific areas form our technology footprint:

• Flexible Function Materials - including Polymer Electronics
• Ambient Instelligence - smart objects and environments
• technologies that improve the quality of our everyday lives at home, work and during recreation
• Healthcare technologies for preventative, early-stage diagnosis and personalised medicine

These four technology areas are set to transform the world we lives at home, work, city spaces and environment.

Shak Gohir
Business & Programme Manager