LONDON & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DnaNudge, a medical and consumer genetics testing innovator and a spin-out of Imperial College London, today announced that it has signed a multi-million-dollar agreement with NantNudge, an entity whose mission is to drive genomics and AI to the point-of-decision. NantNudge will provide rapid, lab-free point-of-decision diagnostics to a broader audience across the globe, including Central, South, and North America and Africa, at an accelerated rate.
NantNudge will develop, manufacture and supply transformative medical and consumer diagnostic and predictive software and services for improving a healthy lifestyle (diet and skin care) and for real-time PCR diagnostics for infectious diseases and cancer. The company is initiating a soft launch of its revolutionary device, the NantBeam, a wearable camera, activity monitor, and barcode scanner at the Inspirational Women’s Forum in Los Angeles on November 7, 2023. The NantBeam connects to your mobile phone and uses AI data to inform you about food and cosmetic products that are suitable for a healthy lifestyle based on your personal genomics.
A key focus of NantNudge is to establish regulatory approvals for point-of-decision diagnostics of infectious diseases such as Covid, flu, RSV, tuberculosis (TB), bacterial infections, and cancer risk - all to transform personalized treatment at the point-of-decision based on personal genomics signature.
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder of NantWorks and NantNudge, stated: "Professor Chris Toumazou and I have pursued a shared vision together for over a decade that the convergence of nanotechnology, engineering, and biology will transform our capability to derive real-time information from the human signal engine1 and transform decision making at point-of-decision. This genomics PCR device, I believe, will be an inflection point for capturing genomic signals on a very personalized basis and transforming how we work, live, and play. I am proud to have been associated with Imperial College of London for all these years, and I am excited that together with Chris and his team, we will accelerate the clinical adoption of this first-in-kind PCR device."
NantNudge will manufacture the portable RT-PCR point-of-decision NantCartridge (the hand held genomics PCR device), NantBeam (a wearable camera, activity monitor, and barcode scanner), and NantChip (the lab in a cartridge for medical, healthcare, and consumer markets containing personalized genomic diagnostic chips).
NantNudge will release its "Quad" test this year, following regulatory approval, which allows for quick detection of SARS-CoV-2, FluA, FluB, and RSV using a single cartridge. Additionally, a co-development program will be initiated to create rapid out-of-lab testing panels to address global health challenges such as infectious diseases, precision medicine, oncology, diabetic foot and uterine infections, sexually transmitted diseases, and antimicrobial resistance.
Professor Chris Toumazou, Chairman and co-founder of DnaNudge, added: "This is a momentous day, both in terms of DnaNudge's commercial journey and for realizing our ambition of transforming global access to life-changing – and life-saving – near-patient diagnostics. Dr Soon-Shiong's unrivalled track record in successfully commercialising breakthrough technologies is globally recognised, and our decade quest together and shared vision of ensuring that the world community can benefit equitably from transformative health innovations, is coming to life with the NantBeam. We are hugely excited to be working together to create this future through fast, affordable and accessible testing."
NantNudge and DnaNudge platform technologies offer fast, affordable, and easy-to-use RT-PCR multiplex testing capabilities that can be used in any setting, including non-clinical environments. This technology meets the global need for reliable and rapid testing at low cost and minimal resource usage. The Lab-in-Cartridge system operates by placing a sample swab into a disposable cartridge that extracts RNA. The cartridge is then inserted into the NudgeBox for analysis and reverse transcription to DNA, providing results in just over an hour.
DnaNudge is the developer of the world’s first services to use consumers’ own DNA plus lifestyle factors to nudge people towards healthier choices while shopping. DnaNudge’s services analyse and map users’ genetic profile to key nutrition-related health traits – including obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol – plus skin-related conditions, enabling customers to be guided by their DNA towards healthier, more personalised product choices as they scan and shop. The service has been developed by world-renowned biomedical engineer Regius Professor Chris Toumazou FRS and published geneticist Dr Maria Karvela.
This ground-breaking DNA testing service created to address an epidemic – obesity and Type 2 diabetes – has been successfully adapted for the fight against a pandemic, with the development of the rapid, lab-free CovidNudge RT-PCR test. CovidNudge can accurately detect COVID-19 and other viruses in just over an hour, without the need for a laboratory, and is in use in healthcare settings around the world.
1 Soon-Shiong, P.; Toumazou, C.; Burdett, A. Ultra-low-power semiconductors for wireless vital signs early warning systems. Electronics Letters, 47(26), S26–.doi:10.1049/el.2011.3019, 2011
