Rapid bacteria diagnostics company NanoLogix (OTCBB:NNLX) is planning to move its research and development operations from the Cincinnati area to its Hubbard, Ohio headquarters.
The move comes about a month after plans were announced to close BioStart, the incubator where NanoLogix’s three R&D employees were based.
Those employees will not be transitioning to NanoLogix’s new R&D facilities in Hubbard. The company plans to add five new employees in Hubbard — three to replace the departing employees and two new hires, CEO Bret Barnhizer said.
The company employs 14 full-timers and consultants, according to Barnhizer.
“We will now have all NanoLogix activities, R&D, production and management under one roof,” Barnhizer said in a statement. “This consolidation of operations is projected to be essentially seamless with incremental startup of the new lab in Hubbard coinciding with scale-down of Cincinnati operations.”
A recent clinical trial found that NanoLogix’s technology detects Group B Streptococcus (GBS) within four to six hours of incubation.
The company expects to file for 510(k) regulatory clearance of the test by the end of September, Barnhizer has said.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
NanoLogix is also looking to obtain U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for rapid-detection test kits for several other types of bacteria, including E. coli, cholera, salmonella and anthrax.
The company’s technology recently received some strong exposure via an article in MIT’s Technology Review magazine.
