Lured by an anticipated $2 million investment round, Tennessee diagnostic device company NanoDetection Technology is moving to Cincinnati.
The new funding will allow the company to complete the clinical trials necessary to get its device on the market, which NanoDetection hopes to do by 2013, according to a statement from CincyTech, a public-private investment group that contributed $250,000 to the deal. The group obtains funding through Ohio’s Third Frontier initiative, which is designed to support high-tech jobs in the state.
The company is developing a detection device for pathogens, DNA and biomarkers — proteins in the blood that can indicate a certain disease is present. The device is intended for the research, lab testing and veterinary markets.
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The company’s goal is for the device to be capable of detecting substances or infections ranging from anthrax to MRSA to ricin within 10-to-15 minutes, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
NanoDetection was founded by Knoxville physician Charles Barnett, and its technology was developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a federally funded research and development laboratory in Tennessee.
The company is led by Joel Ivers, former president of Kentucky-based Union Springs Pharmaceuticals. Ivers joined NanoDetection in July. He didn’t immediately return a voicemail.
The company’s immediate focus will be on making a prototype and setting up manufacturing and sales networks, Ivers told the Enquirer. Until its detection system receives FDA approval, the company likely will consist of just two or three employees, including Ivers and a lab technician who’ll be moving from Tennessee.
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NanoDetection is looking for lab space in the Cincinnati area, according to the statement.
Other investors in the round include Southern Ohio Creates Companies, which contributed $100,000, and an unidentified private investor. The round is anticipated to reach $2 million, but it now stands at about half that, according to the statement.
