Thursday, August 2 , 2007Volume 7, Issue 4
New Joint Venture Company is Based on Penn State Nano Research
The progress of nanotechnology from university laboratory to the manufacturing floor has taken another step forward with an agreement to form a new development venture between Keystone Nano, a State College nanotechnology development company, and Nalco Company, a multibillion-dollar firm specializing in water treatment and process improvement services based in Napier, Illinois.
The joint venture company, called NanoSpecialties, LLC, will conduct research and development of licensed nanotechnologies to improve various Nalco water and process treatments, as well as developing other new nano products for industrial specialty chemical applications.
Keystone Nano holds two licenses from Penn State to commercialize the work of Prof. Jim Adair's research group in the Materials Research Institute at the University Park campus, and Prof. Mark Kester's research group at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey College of Medicine, in Hershey. Their technology, called NanoJackets ', was designed to deliver therapeutic drugs and imaging agents to precise locations within the body.
NanoJackets are non-toxic particles with uniform diameters of from 10 to 50 nanometers that can be filled with a wide variety of chemical compounds for industrial and medical applications. Aside from their wide variety of potential applications in specialty chemical markets, NanoJackets have tremendous potential in medical applications, including drug delivery of anticancer drugs and in vivo imaging using encapsulated fluorescent dyes with enhanced luminescence and photobleaching resistance. Additionally, research is currently underway to functionalize the surface of the particles to deliver to specific cell types in the body. By combining a therapeutic drug with a fluorescent material and a targeted molecule, NanoJackets can seek, treat, and image in one package.
About Keystone Nano
Keystone Nano is a development stage company based in State College, Pennsylvania, working at the interface between nanotechnology, materials, and the life sciences. More information is available on the company at www.keystonenano.com or by calling 814-466-5080.
James H. Adair, chief science officer for Keystone Nano, is a Penn State professor of Materials Science and Engineering. Mark Kester, chief medical officer of Keystone Nano, is a Penn State professor of pharmacology.
