Innovation at the Core

Nanogen has a rich history of innovation and a strong intellectual property portfolio in the diagnostics field. We consider our technological expertise to be a core competency of our organization but are cognizant of that fact that innovation for the sake of invention is not meaningful and that our efforts need to be focused on enabling better patient care. With more than 150 patents issued and many more pending we aim to use our strong research and development foundation to bring innovative and valued products to the healthcare market.

Our History

Though a small company compared to many in the diagnostics industry we have had a productive history. In October of 2008 Nanogen was recognized in the Wall Street Journal for its innovation in its annual listing of the Patent Scorecard for our industry.

We have leveraged our resources to develop proprietary solutions for a variety of diagnostic areas including:

  • The advancement of personalized medicine through the use of electronic microarrays for multiplexed detection of molecular targets. Our proprietary NanoChip technology pioneered the field of personalized medicine and demonstrated the detection of complex genetic mutations for clinical applications.
  • The improvement in real-time PCR technology by the inclusion of proprietary chemistry such as minor groove binders (MGB) which improve hybridization stability and specificity for molecular diagnostic assays.
  • The use of multiple cardiac markers to improve diagnostic utility. Our Cardiac STATus® Tandem and Decision Point 3-in-1 products provide rapid results for 3 key biomarkers associated with cardiovascular disease.

Our Future

Today Nanogen's research and development programs are focused on advancing our molecular product offering and improving the technology and capabilities of rapid diagnostic methods that can be used in urgent care settings and at the point of care. Through a combination of grants, contracts and self funding we are working on assays and technologies that will provide better results.

Here are some examples:

  • Rapid Influenza Testing - through a contract with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a partnership with HX Diagnostics, Nanogen is developing a rapid influenza test that detects and differentiates amongst the common influenza strains. The test is being developed with our proprietary Nexus Dx rapid test platform - a 3rd generation rapid test technology which significantly improve precision and sensitivity for rapid test methods.
  • Molecular Diagnostics for Influenza - also through a contract with the CDC, Nanogen is developing a multiplexed molecular diagnostic test that can be used as a confirmatory test for influenza. This test will differentiate amongst the influenza strains and will have a reflex test to identify avian flu subtypes.
  • Cardiac Diagnostics - using our Nexus Dx technology platform, Nanogen is developing the next generation of rapid cardiac biomarker tests. Early feasibility work has demonstrated that we can achieve low end sensitivity and precision comparable to tests run on expensive automated central lab systems.
  • Advanced Molecular - with the support of a variety of grants we continue to develop diagnostic technology that will allow the simultaneous detection of multiple molecular targets. Our current programs include the reduction of our basic NanoChip electronic microarray technology to a low cost consumable that can yield a sample-to-answer result in under 2 hours. This will enable rapid point-of-care diagnostics for molecular targets.