Big ideas come in very small packages

Nanopartz might be a small company producing really small things, but its vision is big. So big it’s created a bioscience spinoff, NanopartzRx.

Nanopartz, was founded in Salt Lake City in 2007 and moved its five employees to Loveland in the second half of 2009. The company makes nanoparts of gold, including spherical gold nanoparticles, gold nanorods, micron-sized gold and gold nanowire.

To put Nanopartz products into perspective, nanoscale objects are 100 to 10,000-times smaller than human cells.

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As tiny as nanoparticles are, their applications and markets are nearly endless. Nanoparticles are used in touch screen displays, printed circuit boards, solar panels, imaging technology and bioscience, and new applications are being discovery routinely. Nanopartz has 1,500 customers in 30 countries around the world, mostly researchers.

NanopartzRx intends to focus Nanopartz’ patented gold nanorods for application in the cancer therapeutics market. Company president Christian Schoen and business partner Shelley Coldiron recognized early the potential to spin off companies to apply the technology in various ways.

“The idea is for Nanopartz to be the material supplier,” Schoen said.

With such a broad and expanding market, there are many potentially competing nanoparticle suppliers. Nanopartz’ niche, he explained, is that the company has patented a method to make all of its nanoparticles the same size.

In therapeutic and diagnostic applications, that is key to proper identification. If all the nanoparticles were different sizes, they would be very difficult to spot. But it’s the ability to “tune” its gold nanoparticles – specifically the nanorods – the led to the recent spinoff.

Len Pagliaro, CEO for NanopartzRx, explained that there are several forces at work that make the rods a promising option for literally zapping cancer tumors. The first consideration is the characteristics of the tumors. Cancer tumors have been proven to react to hyperthermia – they can be eradicated by heat. The problem in using heat as a therapy is getting temperatures hot enough to damage the tumors (around 113 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal) and localized enough not damage other parts of the body.

That’s where Nanopartz’ precision gold nanorods come into play. The length of the rods can be changed to tune them to absorb different wavelengths – such as infrared – to heat up locally. Another characteristic of cancer tumors, known as the Enhanced Permeability and Retention effect, causes molecules to accumulate in a tumor preferentially. So, by introducing batches of identical, appropriately sized gold nanorods, NanopartzRx proposes that cancer cells can be targeted with infrared lasers. The application has already proven successful in mice.

“In all solid tumors, it’s worked so far,” Pagliaro said.

Despite the broad success, NanopartzRx plans to first target skin cancer. Pagliaro believes that doctors and patents alike will be more accepting of the new therapy if it’s less invasive, for example, used to treat tumors at or near the surface of the skin. Many dermatologists already have infrared lasers in their offices, so no additional equipment would be needed.

“We feel it’s a logical way to start,” Pagliaro explained. The market for skin cancer therapeutics is around $1.5 billion annually.

The company is currently seeking investments to move into the next stages of testing -starting with cat and dog models. Schoen believes that the nanorods could be used to treat skin cancer in humans in as soon as six years with proper funding.

Up to this point, the testing has been supported from material sales as well as some government grants. Pagliaro added that they are considering venture capital funding or partnerships with other firms.

“There are some good possibilities along the Front Range,” he said.

The concentration of possible partners in Colorado is good for Nanopartz but wasn’t key to its move here. Schoen said it was more of a quality of life decision – his wife liked the Colorado Front Range. Cementing the deal, the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp. work with Metro Denver Economic Development to find a suitable building at a good price.

Nanopartz offices and labs are located in the former Eheart Flooring America building in Loveland. At almost 10,000 square feet, Schoen believes his is the largest nanoparticles lab in the world. The company expects to grow into it, too. It could employ up to 50 within five years, becoming a pretty big company making very tiny things.

Kristen Tatti covers technology for the Northern Colorado Business Report. She can be reached at 970-221-5400, ext. 219 or ktatti@ncbr.com.