BioNanomatrix Awarded Phase II NIH Grant to Support Development of Its Single-Molecule Nanoscale Whole Genome Analyzer
- New $2.1 Million SBIR Grant Extends NHGRI Support for Commercial Development of the Company's Revolutionary Whole Genome Imaging and Analysis Platform -
PHILADELPHIA, March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- BioNanomatrix, Inc., a developer of breakthrough nanoscale platforms for biomedical research, molecular diagnostics and personalized medicine, today announced receipt of a Phase II grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant is intended to support further commercial development of BioNanomatrix's nanoscale whole genome imaging and analysis platform. It follows the company's successful completion of work under a similar Phase I grant for initial development of the technology.
The 30-month $2.08 million Small Business Investment Research (SBIR) award was made under the BioEngineering Nanotechnology Initiative, an interdisciplinary, multi-institutes consortium with the stated goal of supporting the development of nanotechnologies critical for enabling essential breakthroughs that may have tremendous potential for affecting biomedicine.
"We are pleased that the NIH has again recognized the potential of our unique approach by awarding us this Phase II grant for the commercial development of our integrated nanoscale whole genome imaging and analysis platform," said Michael Boyce-Jacino, Ph.D., president and CEO of BioNanomatrix. "This additional funding will help support the commercial development of our potentially transformative technology."
Dr. Boyce-Jacino added, "BioNanomatrix's nanoscale technology is intended to allow researchers to directly image and analyze very long, individual intact strands of DNA at the single-molecule level with very high resolution, yielding a great deal of genomic information that is not currently accessible. We believe our technology has the potential to increase the utility of whole genome imaging and analysis for a wide range of research and diagnostic applications, and we are delighted at NHGRI's renewed vote of confidence in the potential of our program."
About BioNanomatrix
BioNanomatrix is developing breakthrough nanoscale whole genome imaging and analytic platforms for applications in biomedical research, genetic diagnostics and personalized medicine. The company is applying its expertise in nanochips, nanodevices and nanosystems to develop its patented platform technology to provide fast, comprehensive, and low-cost analysis of genomic, epigenomic and proteomic information with sensitivity at the single-molecule level. Its current development efforts include a NIST-ATP funded project to sequence the human genome at a cost of $100. The company also receives funding from the National Institutes of Health. BioNanomatrix's technologies are licensed exclusively from Princeton University. Founded in 2003, the company is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit: www.BioNanomatrix.com
CONTACT: Barbara Lindheim of GendeLLindheim BioCom Partners,
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Web site: http://www.bionanomatrix.com/