Date: Apr 12, 2011 Source: Business Wire (
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BRIGHTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nano Terra, Inc., a leading surface engineering and nanotechnology co-development company, today announced it is acquiring Surface Logix, Inc., a drug development company founded by renowned Harvard scientist Professor George Whitesides. Surface Logix has made significant breakthroughs in enhancing the molecular functionality of pharmaceuticals and advancing several drug candidates.
"We think we can achieve significant synergies through our proven co-development model. This acquisition opens the door to the use of Nano Terra's technology in a variety of healthcare products."
Surface Logix developed the Pharmacomer™ Technology Platform, which enables the discovery of new, small molecule drugs that are optimized to meet the challenges of human physiology in ways not met by traditional medicinal chemistry practices.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"Surface Logix is an excellent fit for Nano Terra since our business was also built on intellectual property from the Whitesides lab," said Myer Berlow, CEO of Nano Terra. "We think we can achieve significant synergies through our proven co-development model. This acquisition opens the door to the use of Nano Terra's technology in a variety of healthcare products."
Berlow added, "This is an area where microfabrication and surface chemistry offers tremendous promise in dramatically improving the functionality of healthcare products. It's a logical extension of our business."
Said Keith Dionne, PhD, Surface Logix's President and CEO, "The combination of our promising therapies and Nano Terra's ability to identify, recruit and fully partner with major companies will, we believe, bring life-saving and life-enhancing products more quickly to the people who need them."
Nano Terra leverages its expertise and intellectual property through co-development with Fortune 500 industrial and manufacturing companies and the U.S. government. It has completed nearly 20 projects with partners, including Merck, 3M, Boeing, Lockheed, and Saudi Aramco, among others.
Nano Terra's scientific methods can be used to fabricate advanced materials and devices that enhance existing products or create entirely new products in a broad range of areas, especially "clean tech" and "green tech," including: fuel cells, batteries and solar power devices; water filtration; smart materials and surfaces; flexible electronics such as displays and electronic packaging; sensors; industrial products and processes; and a wide range of consumer goods.
ABOUT NANO TERRA, INC.
Nano Terra is a privately-held research and development company which has field-exclusive licenses to more than 50 patents on work done by co-founder George Whitesides at the renowned Whitesides Lab at Harvard University, where he is the Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor. Whitesides was the winner of the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry in 2009.
Key components of Nano Terra's expertise include Surface Engineering techniques (such as Soft Lithography, Self-Assembly, and Surface Chemistry), and the application of novel Nanomaterials. Nano Terra assembles structures and chemistries at all length scales (from nano- to micro-) on flat, curved, smooth, and uneven surfaces made of a broad range of materials, including metals, polymers, oxides, and ceramics.
For more information, visit www.nanoterra.com.
ABOUT SURFACE LOGIX, INC.
Surface Logix is a drug development company which uses its expertise in biophysical chemistry to create new small molecule drugs with significantly improved pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) properties compared with current class leaders.
By using its proprietary chemistry platform -- the Pharmacomer™ Technology Platform --Surface Logix creates New Chemical Entities (NCEs) that respond dynamically to the various physiological microenvironments in the human body. By enhancing molecular functionality, Surface Logix is able to solve PK and PD problems not addressable with traditional medicinal chemistry practices.
