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NEWS
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Karen M. Arnold, Chief Financial Officer
NANOCOPOEIA, INC. AWARDED PHASE II FEDERAL RESEARCH FUNDING TO COMMERCIALIZE INNOVATIVE STENT COATING PROCESS
Phase II Small Business Innovation Research Grant Will Accelerate Company's Commercialization Program
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA. September 21, 2006. Nanocopoeia, Inc. has been awarded a
Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant totaling $500,000 from the
National Science Foundation (NSF) to scale up, validate, and commercialize its next-
generation process technology for coating medical stents. In addition to this Phase II
research funding grant the company is eligible to apply for Phase II b follow-on funding
for an additional $500,000 to match R&D investment made by a commercial partner.
NSF awards SBIR grants under its Manufacturing Innovation Initiative to fund
development stages of groundbreaking technologies like the Nanocopoeia
ElectroNanospray process and to enable commercialization. This proprietary process
enables the next generation of proprietary, multi-functional stent coatings based on
sophisticated, engineered depositions and coating designs that provide staged and
targeted delivery of therapeutics from the stent surface.
Under the SBIR Phase II program, which is designed to prepare for commercialization
with private-sector partners, Nanocopoeia will produce commercial scale manufacturing
hardware for applying nanoparticle-based drug-eluting coatings to coronary stents. The equipment will be capable of operating in a regulated environment. The demonstrated
flexibility of the system for transforming a wide range of proprietary coating materials
into nanocomposite coatings is a key feature of the system.
The market for drug-eluting stents is one of the fastest growing segments in the medical
device industry. Significant improvement in clinical outcomes associated with the use of
these products is driving the growth. First-generation products combining therapeutic
drugs with the implantable stents reached the market in 2004 and are projected to
generate world-wide annual sales in excess of $5 billion.
According to Nanocopoeia's CEO, Robert A. Hoerr, MD, PhD, "This grant funding will
greatly accelerate commercial development of Nanocopoeia's next generation,
engineered nanocomposite stent coating process. The availability of follow-on funding to
match a partner's investment provides a great incentive."
"We are delighted to be a multiple-SBIR winner," Hoerr continues. "We understand that
this is a highly competitive review process carried out by expert scientific panels, and
that our selection for multiple awards clearly validates the promise of our novel approach
to coating medical stents."
Nanocopoeia (www.nanocopoeia.com) is commercializing its proprietary process for
delivering advanced coatings to the converging industries of devices, drugs, and delivery.
The company's ElectroNanosprayTM technology is used to apply polymers and drugs to
medical devices as well as to formulate drugs for enhanced therapeutic delivery. The
Company's business model is to provide value-added development and formulation
services to corporate partners.
For more details, contact Karen M. Arnold at info@nanocopoeia.com or (651) 209-1184.
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