News

Bio Nano Consulting, specialists in bio and nanotechnology partnerships between the academic and industrial sectors, announces the signing of a service level agreement (SLA) with The School of Pharmacy, University of London. This latest SLA enables BNC to offer an expanded service offering to life science and pharma companies as it provides access to an increased pool of academic experts skilled in the fields of pharmaceutics, pharmacology and drug discovery.

Professor Gabriel Aeppli, Founding Director of BNC, and co-director of the LCN and Quain Professor of Physics in the UCL Department of Physics and Astronomy, is one of 44 new Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 2010.

Professor Lord Broers brings extensive industry, academic and scientific expertise, having served at prominent University establishments, and as Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee between 2004 and 2007.

BNC founding Director, Professor Michael Horton has sadly died from cancer, aged 61. Prof. Horton was a world-leading clinical expert in bone research and a pioneer in the emerging field of Nanomedicine.

Bio Nano Consulting (BNC), the specialist bio-nanotechnology product development consultancy, is delighted to be heading into only their second year of trading with one award already under their belt and two further award shortlistings. In recognition of their internationalisation, significant progress and performance as ambassadors of the UK life science sector, BNC has been shortlisted for the Genesis Awards’ UKTI assisted newcomer of the year and Company Newsflow of the Year. Meanwhile, Dr Rachel McKendry, one of BNC’s key collaborators, recently received the prestigious Paterson medal and prize from the Institute of Physics, in recognition of her international contributions.

Bio Nano Consulting (BNC), is delighted to announce that one of their key collaborators has been specifically recognised for her scientific contributions to the field of nanomechanics.The Institute of Physics (IOP) awarded Dr. Rachel McKendry the prestigious Paterson medal and prize in recognition of her international contributions, and in particular for her work developing label-free nanomechanical cantilever sensors.

The specialist product development consultancy, Bio Nano Consulting (BNC) is pleased to announce that it has been chosen to lead the UK arm of a collaboration with a major research institution in the Middle East in a multi-million pound environmental nanotechnology endeavour. The agreement, worth in excess of £2 million over two years for BNC and its London partners, will utilise the expertise of the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN), a joint venture between Imperial College and University College London, on two important projects looking at the applications of nanotechnology to environmental issues: ‘nano-catalysts for wastewater treatment’ and ‘nano-catalysts for the synthesis of fine chemicals’.

The specialist product development consultancy, Bio Nano Consulting (BNC) is pleased to announce that it has recently signed its largest contract to date with a major chemical company. BNC has secured this contract as a result of unique intellectual property developed at its partner institutions of Imperial College and the London Centre for Nanotechnology. The 12 month project aims to provide a consistent system for the separation of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) based on their electrical properties for improved micro-electronic performance. The work by BNC will develop the processes to a sufficient maturity to allow the client to license and further commercialise the technology.

At this year’s BIO conference in Atlanta, UK scientists and biotech experts will lead debate on how to drive the development of nanotechnology and maximise its potential to speed up drug discovery and create and enhance patient therapies.

Past commentators have predicted that total market for nanotechnology-enabled drug delivery will rise to $26 billion by 2012 from its current size of $3.39 billion – a compound annual growth rate of 37%. After 2012, the market could rise steeply, reaching potentially $220 billion by 2015 for these nano-enabled compounds. Yet recent research amongst pharma companies found only one in six respondents had an explicit nanotech strategy compared to four in six in the electronics and materials sector.

At a debate organised by BNC and hosted by Dr Moira Gunn radio host of BiotechNation, speakers will explore how the biotech and pharma industries can realise the full potential of nanotechnology to ensure successful commercial development of new drugs.

At present there are very few truly new anti- biotics in the global drug development pipe- lines. This is a continual source of concern for healthcare professionals as there is an increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) healthcare acquired infections (HCAIs), which are also now permeating be- yond the bounds of healthcare settings. The MDR pathogens are, on the whole, mutated strains of common bacteria or fungi. For example Staphylococcus aureus is a common coloniser of human skin and its native strain causes very few problems, but mutant strains resistant to many antibiotics (commonly referred to as methicillin resistant S. aureaus [MRSA]) have a high morbidity and mortality. Similarly, Enterococci spp. (e.g. E. faecalis and E. faecium) are commensal or- ganisms in the digestive tract, but highly virulent strains resistant to virtually all anti- biotics have emerged.

Researchers at Bio Nano Consulting (BNC), aspecialist bio-nanotechnology product development consultancy, have produced aminiaturized version of the London tube map, measuring only 2x3 mm – about the sizeof a pinhead. The map was etched using specialised lasers by Dr Richard Winkle, a BNCresearcher at Imperial College London, whilst testing the capabilities of an OxfordLasers micromachining system. The ‘London Nanotube’ was aptly named as nanotubesare an essential building block for nanotechnology. The incredible precision required toproduce the London Nanotube highlights the ability of the BNC to provide extremelyfine detailed work on an exceptionally small scale.

With eight major contract wins under its belt in 2008, Bio Nano Consulting (BNC), the specialist bio-nanotechnology product development consultancy, has appointed an additional Consultant/Project Manager, Dr Felicity Sartain. Dr Sartain joins BNC from UK-based Smart Holograms where she had been responsible for managing the development of novel sensor holograms, with a particular focus on continuous blood glucose monitoring.

Bio Nano Consulting (BNC), the specialist bionanotechnologyproduct development consultancy, has signed a collaborativeagreement with a Top 5 pharma company to develop new assay systems for theirproduct discovery and development.

Bio Nano Consulting (BNC), the specialist bionanotechnology product development consultancy, announced at Genesis 2008 in London that it has just completed its second major project for US-based pharmaceutical company, Targanta Therapeutics Corporation. BNC has used its position as world-leaders in cantilever-array assay systems to analyse in greater detail the mechanism of action of Targanta’s lead antibiotic, oritavancin, a novel lipoglycopeptide antibiotic.

This week Nature Nanotechnology journal (October 12th) reveals how scientists from the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) at UCL are using a novel nanomechanical approach to investigate the workings of vancomycin, one of the few antibiotics that can be used to combat increasingly resistant infections such as MRSA. The researchers, led by Dr Rachel McKendry and Professor Gabriel Aeppli, developed ultra-sensitive probes capable of providing new insight into how antibiotics work, paving the way for the development of more effective new drugs.

BNC and Oxford Immunotec work together to improve infectious disease diagnosis and monitoring. Bio Nano Consulting (BNC), the specialist bio-nanotechnology product development consultancy, today announced that it has commenced a project with international T cell measurement company, Oxford Immunotec. BNC is applying its expertise in nano-characterisation to assist Oxford Immunotec in a project related to its novel Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSPOT (ELISPOT) system. As specialists in bio-nanotechnology, BNC is able to utilise the world-leading nano-characterisation facilities at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London.

Commissioning of new tool allows Bio Nano Consulting to offer advanced system for prototyping on the micron scale. Bio Nano Consulting (BNC) is pleased to announce the availability of its latest tool for advanced prototyping with the commissioning of a new laser micro-machining system. The Oxford Lasers E-series system is an ideal tool for micro-drilling, micro-cutting and micro-milling of almost any solid material with an extremely high degree of accuracy.

Bio Nano Consulting (BNC), the specialist bionanotechnology product development consultancy, has appointed Mike Fisher PhD as Business Development Director and to manage a major new UK Government contract. Until recently Dr Fisher was with UKTI in Boston, USA as the British Government’s North American advisor on life sciences.

A significant step forward in the practical delivery of nanotech for biomedical applications was taken last night with the official launch of Bio Nano Consulting. Formerly known as the Bio Nano Centre, the new Bio Nano Consulting (BNC) is a specialist product development consultancy applying nanotechnology tools to address real-world problems from the biomedical industry. Established in late 2007, BNC provides a seamless concept-to-market route for the bio- nanotechnology sector, and already has two projects underway with major pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies.

The Bio Nano Centre (BNC) today announced that it has commenced its first commercial project with a major pharmaceutical client. The London-based specialist research and development consultancy is using its position as world-leaders in cantilever-array assay systems to analyse in greater detail the mechanism of action of oritavancin, a novel lipoglycopeptide antibiotic under development at US-based Targanta Therapeutics Corporation. This project builds on the BNC’s experience with other antibiotics.

University College London and Imperial College London Use Sun Visualization System Software to Further Nanotechnology Research