Provided by Prince William County
Prince William County-based Ceres Nanosciences, Inc. (Ceres) today announced the commencement of a development program, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DAPRA) of the U.S. Department of Defense, to use Ceres’ Nanotrap® particle technology to assess methods of detecting panels of immune function markers in non-invasive sample types.
During the 18 month performance of this program, Ceres will work in close collaboration with the Walt Laboratory at Tufts University, led by David R. Walt, Ph.D., university professor and professor of chemistry, to adapt the Nanotrap sample processing technology to assays developed for the Quanterix Simoa analyzer platform. Central to this program is the comparative analysis of immune marker detection across different biofluid sample types, including venous blood, urine, saliva, and capillary blood. Matched samples from healthy volunteers will be collected under an approved clinical study conducted at George Mason University over the course of 12 months.
“We are excited to apply the Nanotrap’s universal sample preservation and enrichment features to the industry leading performance of the Quanterix Simoa Analyzer,” said Ben Lepene, Chief Operating Officer and Director of R&D, Ceres. “The ability to use non-invasive sample types, like urine or saliva, to routinely detect the fluctuations of immune status biomarkers opens up new opportunities for critical health and wellness monitoring applications.”
Ceres’ novel nanoparticle technology, the “Nanotrap®”, provides powerful bio-fluid sample processing capabilities for a wide array of diagnostic applications and sample handling needs. The Nanotrap technology was invented at George Mason University Science & Technology Campus in Innovation Park, Prince William, Va., under funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for biomarker discovery applications, and currently is being developed into commercial products by Ceres with support from NIH, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Ceres Nanosciences is a privately held biotechnology company located in the Prince William Science Accelerator – Northern Virginia’s only public-private commercially available wet lab space. Our focus is on the development of research and diagnostic products using its unique and proprietary Nanotrap® capture particle technology. Ceres’ business goals are to develop a number of commercial applications of the Nanotrap® for high-demand diagnostics and other needs in the life sciences industry. To learn more, visit ceresnano.com
