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News

01/25/2008
NABsys is the Lead Institution on One of Nine 2008 Collaborative Research Awards

Vice President of Research and Development, Dr. John S. Oliver is Principal Investigator

Providence, RI (January 25, 2008) - NABsys, Inc. announced today that its Vice President of Research and Development, Dr. John S. Oliver is the Principal Investigator on an approximately $150,000 award from the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council to further the development of NABsys’ Hybridization Assisted Nanopore Sequencing Platform. The work will be conducted in conjunction with Dr. Bernard Munge’s lab at Salve Regina University.

“Coming on the heels of our awards from the NIH, this award is further validation of the scientific and business merits of the NABsys approach,” said Dr. Oliver about the award. “We are proud to lead one of the nine teams to get an award out of the approximately 50 that applied.”

About NABsys

NABsys is a nanobiotechnology company developing a next-generation DNA sequencing platform that the company believes will allow an entire human genome to be sequenced for less than $1,000, ultimately enabling personalized medicine. The company’s platform, Hybridization-Assisted Nanopore Sequencing (HANS) uses nanotechnology-based detectors known as nanopores and is being developed in collaboration with researchers at Brown University. The company was founded in 2004 and is located in Providence, RI. To learn more about NABsys, please visit www.nabsys.com.

08/02/2007
NABsys-Affiliated Scientists Receive Two of the Eight ‘Revolutionary Genome Sequencing Technologies - The $1,000 Genome’ Awards from the National Human Genome Research Institute

NABsys is Only For-Profit Entity to Receive an Award

Providence, RI (August 2, 2007) - NABsys, Inc. announced today that two NABsys-affiliated scientists, Dr. John Oliver, Vice President of Research and Development, and Dr. Xinsheng Sean Ling, NABsys founder and principal academic collaborator and Associate Professor of Physics at Brown University, have received two of the eight “Revolutionary Genome Sequencing Technologies - The $1,000 Genome” awards from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), an institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NABsys was the only company, rather than academic lab, to receive an award. The funds will support the development of NABsys’ proprietary Hybridization-Assisted Nanopore Sequencing (HANS) platform which the company expects will decrease the cost of whole-genome sequencing to well under $1,000 per person/patient, allowing for the widespread implementation of personalized medicine.

“We are pleased that the NHGRI recognizes the value of the NABsys sequencing platform,” said Dr. Barrett Bready, NABsys President and CEO. “The fact that two of the eight scientists to receive ‘$1,000 genome’ money were part of the NABsys team is a great validation of our proprietary approach. Additionally, the fact that NABsys is the only company to receive an award this year is further validation of the potential of the platform.”

The genetic basis of the most deadly diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and stroke, is not well understood. Understanding the underlying genetics associated with these diseases would lead to a more rational approach to drug design and would allow for personalized, predictive, and preventive medicine. The primary impediment to gaining this understanding and to the implementation of personalized medicine has been the high cost of DNA sequencing.

Dr. Oliver’s grant is a two-year $500,000 award made to NABsys. Dr. Ling’s grant is a three-year $820,000 award made to Brown University. NABsys has an exclusive licensing agreement with Brown.

“The NABsys sequencing platform, Hybridization-Assisted Nanopore Sequencing combines nanopore sequencing and sequencing by hybridization to create a platform that is much more powerful than either alone,” said Dr. John Oliver, Vice President of Research and Development. “These awards will help accelerate the work of our interdisciplinary team as they refine the physics, biochemistry, and computer science associated with HANS.”

About NABsys

NABsys is a nanobiotechnology company developing a next-generation DNA sequencing platform that the company believes will allow an entire human genome to be sequenced for less than $1,000, ultimately enabling personalized medicine. The company’s platform, Hybridization-Assisted Nanopore Sequencing (HANS) uses nanotechnology-based detectors known as nanopores and is being developed in collaboration with researchers at Brown University. The company was founded in 2004 and is located in Providence, RI. To learn more about NABsys, please visit www.nabsys.com.

12/22/2006
NABsys Acquires GeneSpectrum

Combined company to develop platform for sequencing human genomic DNA at markedly reduced cost

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NABsys, Inc. and GeneSpectrum, Inc. announced today that NABsys has acquired GeneSpectrum in an all-stock transaction. The combined company, NABsys, will pursue its proprietary Hybridization-Assisted Nanopore Sequencing (HANS) platform for sequencing human genomic DNA.

"The data and expertise that GeneSpectrum has accumulated in the areas of probe design and DNA hybridization will be invaluable to the sequencing platform that NABsys is pursuing," said Barrett Bready, M.D., Chief Executive of NABsys. "GeneSpectrum and its advisors are widely-recognized for their expertise in these areas."

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), it currently costs on the order of $10 million to sequence a single person's genome. NABsys aims to reduce this cost by over four orders of magnitude to less than $1000 per genome. At this price, DNA sequencing would be transformed from a specialized research tool into a clinical diagnostic, thereby enabling personalized medicine.

"The combination of the NABsys and GeneSpectrum technologies will enable the combined DNA sequencing platform to sequence DNA orders of magnitude less expensively and with better information content than any technology currently available," said Dr. John S. Oliver, co-founder of GeneSpectrum and newly appointed Vice President of Research and Development at NABsys.

"DNA sequencing is one of the fundamental tools enabling the revolution under way in life sciences research," said Richard G. Horan, senior managing director of the Slater Technology Fund. "Companies realizing dramatic improvements in DNA sequencing have achieved significant commercial success. NABsys shows great promise in its pursuit of this goal."

About NABsys

Headquartered in Providence, RI, NABsys is developing a method of sequencing DNA at a lower cost and faster rate than any technology currently available. The company is employing nanotechnology-based detectors called nanopores, being developed in collaboration with Dr. Xinsheng Sean Ling, a Professor of Physics at Brown University.

08/09/2005
NABsys and Brown University Establish Strategic Partnership; Brown takes equity stake in nanobiotechnology company

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Providence-based NABsys, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a partnership with Brown University to commercialize inventions made in the field of solid-state nanopores for bioanalytical applications. The transaction involves the grant to NABsys of exclusive worldwide rights to certain intellectual property developed at Brown as well as the issuance to Brown of a significant equity interest in the Company.

"I really could not be happier, nor could I choose a better partner with whom to move forward in this most important area," said Barrett Bready, M.D., NABsys CEO and alumnus of Brown University and Brown Medical School. "I am glad that Brown recognizes the potential that nanopore-based technologies hold, and I am excited to be working together with them to make low cost, high speed sequencing a reality."

The technology on which NABsys was founded has been developed by Xinsheng Sean Ling, Associate Professor of Physics at Brown and co-founder of NABsys. Dr. Ling was recently awarded a $1.55 million grant from the National Science Foundation to pursue research in the field of solid-state nanopores. The research is being pursued in Dr. Ling's labs at Brown in collaboration with investigators at Harvard.

"I am particularly gratified to have entered into the partnership with Brown, " said Dr. Sean Ling. "While the University setting affords us an ideal opportunity to pursue the NSF-funded research, I think it is equally important to have a commercial partner taking the lead in attracting the additional resources and talent necessary to make this technology a commercial reality."

"The partnership between NABsys and Brown reflects our commitment to encouraging, increasing and improving academia-industry collaborations and to embracing entrepreneurial commercialization as a valid and rewarding form of knowledge dissemination," noted Charles Kingdon, Associate Vice President, Brown Technology Partnerships. "We will continue to work closely with NABsys and other emerging start-up high technology sister companies from Brown to maximize their chances of success in the global marketplace. We wish Barrett and his team every success in the future."

NABsys Director, Leon Cooper, noted that, "This is the way great science should be commercialized. A brilliant scientist in the person of Sean Ling has assembled a truly world-class team of partners and advisors and NABsys is moving forward in true partnership with the university." Professor Cooper is the Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Professor of Science at Brown University, the Director of the Institute for Brain and Neural Systems at Brown, and the 1972 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics.

About NABsys

NABsys is a single-molecule biophysics company dedicated to further developing and commercializing nanopores for bioanalytical applications. NABsys controls the intellectual property for a method of manufacturing addressable nanopore arrays. These arrays have the potential to analyze DNA and other biomolecules using much lower sample sizes, in real time, and at lower cost than traditional bioanalytical methods. This technology has broad applications in clinical diagnostics, drug development, and basic research. For more information on NABsys, please call (401) 454-4706.

07/06/2005
NABsys Names Bready New Chief Executive Officer

Biotechnology company appoints Rhode Island native to leadership role

NABsys, a Providence-based, nanobiotechnology company, announced today that it has named Barrett Bready, M.D. as its chief executive officer.

"We are very fortunate to have attracted to NABsys an individual as capable and knowledgeable as is Barrett," said Leon N. Cooper, Ph.D., a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of NABsys. "His leadership at this early stage in our development as a company will be of critical importance going forward." Dr. Cooper is the Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Professor of Science at Brown University and is the Director of the Institute for Brain and Neural Systems at Brown. Dr. Cooper is a Nobel Laureate, having been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1972 jointly with Bardeen and Schrieffer for their work on superconductivity. Dr. Cooper added, "I find it particularly gratifying that an individual who received his undergraduate degree in physics at Brown and stayed on to receive his M.D. from the Medical School has elected to pursue a career in science and entrepreneurship here in Rhode Island."

Founded in 2004 by Xinsheng Sean Ling, Associate Professor of Physics at Brown University, NABsys has received financial backing from the Slater Technology Fund in amount of $225,000. Research on the Company's technology has been pursued both at Brown University and at the Company's labs at 4 Richmond Square in Providence, RI, where Slater operates an incubator facility. In connection with Dr. Bready's appointment as CEO of NABsys, he was also appointed a Venture Partner of the Slater Technology Fund.

Bready, a Rhode Island native, received both his undergraduate and medical degrees from Brown University. While at Brown, Bready had been active in strengthening the university's reputation in the area of life sciences and mobilizing its student population around issues impacting this sector. He founded three biotechnology initiatives, including the country's first elective in Biotechnology. In addition, he founded the Brown Biotech Expo, and the Brown Biotechnology Interest Group. Bready has also served in various roles at leading biotechnology companies such as Boston Scientific, CombinatoRx, and Biogen Idec.

Founded in 2004 by Brown Physics professor Sean Ling, NABsys has recently completed the placement of a $225,000 convertible note with the Slater Technology Fund. These funds will be used to assist NABsys in its research and development efforts.

"Biology is said to be the youngest science, and single molecule biology is younger still," said Richard G. Horan, Managing Director of the Slater Technology Fund. "Against this backdrop, I consider Barrett Bready's appointment as CEO of NABsys a perfect fit. His youth and enthusiasm will no doubt be terrific assets in the leadership role he's assumed. More to the point, however, are the caliber and commitment Barrett brings to bear. In this respect, I think his involvement will greatly accelerate the pace at which the exciting science being developed by the company is transformed into commercial reality."

About NABsys

NABsys is a single-molecule biophysics company dedicated to further developing and commercializing nanopores for bioanalytical applications. NABsys controls the intellectual property for a method of manufacturing addressable nanopore arrays. These arrays have the potential to analyze DNA and other biomolecules using much lower sample sizes, in real time, and at lower cost than traditional bioanalytical methods. This technology has broad applications in clinical diagnostics, drug development, and basic research. For more information on NABsys, please call (401) 454-4706.