NanoBioMagnetics (NBMI) is a nanobiomaterials company pioneering an emerging area of nanomedicine referred to as organ-assisting-device (OAD) technologies. The company has developed a targeted therapeutic delivery methodology in which designed configurations of magnetically responsive nanoparticles (MNP), under the influence of external shaped magnetic fields, cause or drive a desired physiological event. MNP, single domain and superparamagnetic, respond to an applied magnetic field, returning to their normal state when the field is removed, in effect creating a "biomagnetic" switch. The company is applying this technological concept to a range of human health applications in collaborations with major research institutions across the country, where several scientific "firsts" have been achieved and published.
The company is developing its OAD healthcare applications under two proprietary platforms:
Biostable Implants: MNP, implanted in tissue, nanomechanically drive tissue movements or vibrations, under the influence of an oscillating magnetic field.
Site-Specific Drug Delivery: MNP-therapeutic constructs, under the influence of external shaped magnetic fields, concentrate at a target site, with tissue uptake of the construct.
NBMI's developing OAD technologies will provide the physician and patient with new more effective therapeutic options for meeting the needs of the affected populations.
NBMI, an R&D entity, is the repository for all developed Intellectual Property. The company's business model calls for validated OAD technologies to be spun off, with pharma partners as separate business units, for manufacture and commercialization.
The company's first spin-off, now in progress, XetaComp Nanotechnology LLC (XCNT), is using nanofabrication technology developed by NBMI to manufacture and commercialize a range of nanomaterials having enhanced performance characteristics that present unique opprotunities. The first such product being marketed is a physical sunblock, a broad-spectrum UVA/UVB attenuator, based on nanoparticle titanium dioxide. The subsidiary is now producing a range of multifunctional dermal care products under the Trademark sunVex®.
The company envisions a second business spin-off within the next one to two years based on the site-specific magnetic vectoring of chemotherapeutics. A collaboration in progress with the well known M D Anderson Cancer Center has demonstrated concept feasibility in small animal breast and ovarian tumor models in preclinical studies. Results have been published in peer reviewed journals. A venture spin-off will occur in concert with the filing of appropriate drug applications.
NBMI's proprietary magnetic vectoring technology also creates a pipeline of OAD technologies, also under some stage of collaborative development, that include:
Early stage cancer diagnostics
Placement and positioning of stem cells
Magnetic based biosensors
Vectoring of down-regulating genes
NBMI is seeking investment capital of $5MM over the next 5 years to support the advancement of its OAD technologies to the commercialization pathway.
Charles Seeney, M.S. Polymer Science, is Co-Founder and President of NanoBioMagnetics (NBMI), which is the third technology venture startup under his direction and leadership. He previously was Founder and President of NanoSource Technologies, Inc. (NSTI), whose IP was acquired by the DuPont Corp (2002). His industrial career spans 25+ years since receiving his degree from the University of Akron, OH. He began his career as a Research Scientist with Fortune 200 Companies, eventually becoming a Director of R&D. In the mid-80’s, his career interests turned to Technology Deployment when he started an internal venture, IMCERA Bioproducts, for a Fortune 200 Company which was eventually acquired by the Mallinckrodt Chemical SBU. Over his career, Seeney has been awarded 18 US Patents, with ten applications currently pending. He has also been published in peer reviewed journals.
Dr. Jim Klostergaard, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Oncology at The M D Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC), and Principal Investigator on NBMI’s collaboration with MDACC studying the site-specific vectoring of chemotherapeutics. Dr. Klostergaard's research interests and activites include tumor necrosis factor, drug carriers, sphingolipids, drug copolymers. His work also includes paclitaxel copolymer formulations in Taxol-resistant human ovarian carcinoma nude mouse xenograft models that show improved survival and even achieved some cures in small animal models. His work with NBMI has focused on the magnetic vectoring of paclitaxel constructs in small animal breast and ovarian tumor models.
William Yuill, Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, has served as Manager of Process Development for two major US corporations. He has industrial experience in heat transfer, fluid flow, process modeling and reactor design as well as expertise in aerosol processes. Dr. Yuill is listed as co-inventor or sole inventor on 12 US Patents. In the early 90’s, Dr. Yuill was the program leader for the process development of nanoparticle titanium dioxide, a broad spectrum UVA/UVB attenuator. Dr. Yuill provides the team with expertise in nanoparticle physics and nanofabrication methods based on aerosol processes.
Donald Gibson, M.S., Biochemistry, brings twenty plus years of academic and industrial research experience to NBMI and XetaComp. As Associate Director of Operations for a medical diagnostic venture, he was responsible for maintaining GMP protocols in the production of key materials for the diagnostic device. As Senior Scientist, Mr. Gibson will provide process development expertise in the design of specific nanoparticle configurations for the client. Mr. Gibson is published in several peer-reviewed journals and is an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at the University of Central Oklahoma.
