Nanotechnology Now

Home > Press > Oxonica Platform Detection Technology Wins Nanotech Briefs Nano 50 Award

Abstract:
SERS Nanotags Enable Rapid, Powerful Diagnostics Tools for Clinical Lab through Point-of-Care

Oxonica Platform Detection Technology Wins Nanotech Briefs Nano 50 Award

Mountain View, CA | Posted on July 05, 2006

Oxonica plc (AIM: OXN), a leading international nanotechnology group, today announced that it has received Nanotech Briefs' Nano 50 Award for its powerful diagnostics platform product, SERS Nanotags. A monthly magazine from the publishers of NASA Tech Briefs, Nanotech Briefs recognized Oxonica for SERS Nanotag's remarkable technical innovation and promising market potential. Addressing rising healthcare costs and demands for targeted patient assessment and treatment, Oxonica's SERS Nanotags provide a platform for faster, more precise disease and biomarker detection across the entire diagnostics spectrum from clinical laboratory through point-of-care.

Oxonica’s prototype lateral flow device that uses SERS Nanotags to simultaneously test for Flu A, Flu B and RSV.

Copyright © Oxonica

Click on image for larger version.

"Healthcare providers are increasingly focused on improved clinical outcome predication and early intervention as a strategy for reducing costs and improving patient care, significant needs that can be addressed through better diagnostic technologies," said David Browning, CEO of Oxonica Healthcare. "Incapable of simultaneously measuring more than one or two biomarkers in any given test and often requiring extra preparation steps, current detection technologies simply fall short in terms of efficiency and performance. We believe our SERS Nanotags present a fundamental shift in diagnostics, delivering the ability to test for multiple diseases, proteins, and other biomarkers in everything from an unprepared test tube of blood to a lateral flow device that can be used at the bedside."

The proprietary SERS Nanotag technology leverages surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to deliver a uniquely multiplexing detection technology that is capable of measuring up to 20 different biomarkers in a single test without interference from biological matrices such as whole blood and tissue. Constructed around a 50 nanometer gold core, the award-winning platform technology couples a unique reporter molecule encapsulated in a protective glass layer with any desired biomarker detection molecule. The reporter molecule then produces a highly specific signal when exposed to near-infrared laser light, indicating the presence and quantity of the associated biomarker. The nanotags can be incorporated into standard assay formats, resulting in simple, rapid diagnostic tests that have the potential to drive process efficiencies and result accuracy in laboratory, clinical, hospital and near-patient settings.

Oxonica will be showcasing the SERS Nanotag technology prototype, an easy-to-use lateral flow device that simultaneously tests for Flu A, Flu B and RSV respiratory diseases, at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry's 2006 Annual Meeting, July 23-27 in Chicago. For more information, visit Oxonica in the Clinical Lab Exposition at booth number 443.

"Oxonica and the winners of the Nano 50 awards represent the best of the best, the innovative people and technologies that will continue to move nanotechnology to key mainstream markets," said Linda L. Bell, publisher of Nanotech Briefs.

Judged by a panel of nanotechnology and MEMS experts, the second annual Nano 50 Awards honor Oxonica as one of the top 50 technologies, products, and innovators that have significantly impacted, or are expected to impact, the state of the art in nanotechnology. For the complete list of Nano 50 award winners, visit: www.nanotechbriefs.com/nano50_winners.html

The Nano 50 Awards will be presented at a special reception and awards dinner during NASA Tech Briefs National Nano Engineering Conference at the Boston Marriott Newton, November 9-10. Visit www.techbriefs.com/nano for more information about the conference.

####

About Oxonica plc:
Oxonica (LSE: OXN.L) is one of the leading International nanomaterials groups with products already launched into international markets. It was spun-out from Oxford University in 1999 and currently employs 56 professional staff. Oxonica's mission is to focus on the development of innovative commercial solutions for international markets using its expertise in the design and application of nanomaterials. It owns a portfolio of demand driven products that offer substantial benefits to the target markets of environmental, healthcare and materials. The Group currently has three operating divisions: Oxonica Energy, Oxonica Healthcare and Oxonica Advanced Materials and is now establishing a fourth division, Oxonica Security.

For more information, please click here.

Press Contact:
Rosalind Jackson
Antenna Group (for Oxonica)
(415) 977-1923
rosalind@antennagroup.com

Nathan Tinker
Antenna Group (for Oxonica)
(203) 229-0358
nathan@antennagroup.com

Copyright © Oxonica

If you have a comment, please Contact us.