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JUNE 21, 2005
By Amy Barrett Nanotech As Disease Detector Startup Nanosphere may have a technology that can sniff out telltale markers early enough to advance treatment. The challenge: translating potential to real-life results There's tremendous hype about the promise of nanotechnology in medicine. Now, the companies pioneering the field have to prove the promise can become a reality. Among the players making the rounds at the Biotechnology Industry Organization convention in Philadelphia is William Moffitt, president and chief executive officer of Nanosphere, a startup looking to use nanotechnology to revolutionize the medical-testing industry. "Nanotech is going to create the next major advance in diagnostics," Moffitt says. Certainly, the need is great. For some cancers, the protein in the blood that serve as markers for the disease aren't easily detected in the early stages. So by the time those proteins are finally spotted, the cancer may have progressed to a dangerous level. In ovarian cancer, for example, researchers are studying a hormone called Inhibin A as a possible marker for the disease. But with current technology, that hormone in the blood typically isn't detectable until the cancer is far advanced. Under these conditions, the five-year survival rate is less than 30%. PROMISE FOR ALZHEIMER'S. That's where nanotech comes in. Nanosphere is commercializing technology first developed by two Northwestern University scientists that can detect tiny amounts of a protein in the body. One of the most promising applications is in Alzheimer's disease. Currently, patients can only be diagnosed as definitively having the disease after they pass away and their brain is examined for telltale damage. Scientists are hunting for tests that would help make a diagnosis in living patients. One possible biomarker for Alzheimer's is a protein called amyloid beta-derived diffusible ligands (ADDL). But in the early stages of the disease, that protein is almost undetectable in a patient's spinal fluid. As detailed in a paper published earlier this year, Nanosphere's technology was able to pick up these low levels of ADDL. Moreover, the research showed that it was present at higher levels in those with the disease than those without. That means this protein, along with others, may eventually be used as a way to test for the disease -- and possibly as a tool for developing drugs to treat it. So how does Nanosphere's technology work? It relies on two particles, both of which attach to the ADDL protein, creating a sort of microscopic sandwich. The first is a magnetic particle with a site on it that can lock onto the ADDL protein. The second is a tiny particle that also has a site to link up with the protein in question. DEALS ON TAP? That small particle -- so minute that it would take more than 7,000 lined side by side to equal the width of a human hair -- also has small pieces of DNA on it. When the magnetic particle and the nanoparticle have locked onto the ADDL protein, a magnetic instrument can be used to pull them out of the fluid. Then, all the small pieces of DNA are broken off the nanoparticle and collected. The numbers of those particles found is then used to calculate how much of the ADDL is present in the fluid sample. Nanosphere's Moffitt says the technology is ready for use, and he's talking to a big pharma partner about a possible deal. The system could eventually also be used to measure a potential drug's effectiveness in human trials. Even though the technology is based on the tiniest of particles, the possible payoff is anything but small.  Barrett is BusinessWeek's Philadelphia bureau chief Edited by Ira Sager
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