Nabsys, Inc. is pioneering the development of a novel technology with broad applicability for DNA analysis, called Positional Sequencing. The Nabsys platform uses solid-state nanodetectors to analyze single DNA molecules by electronic detection, revealing both location and identity of DNA sequences over long distances. Knowledge of the position of each DNA sequence greatly facilitates sequence assembly. Positional sequencing is inherently targeted, permitting focused analysis of particular regions of the genome varying in size from that of a single gene up to and including the entire genome.Nabsys's positional sequencing platform is designed to set new standards for accuracy, speed and scalability of DNA sequence analysis. Major applications include analysis of genome structural variation, genome mapping, and both targeted and whole genome sequencing. Nabsys plans to develop a portfolio of tools based on positional sequencing, with a special focus on opportunities in cancer genomics research and diagnostics.
The company has also initiated its transition from technology development to product commercialization by announcing the appointment of Stan Rose, Ph.D., as the company's first chief commercial officer. Nabsys is also announcing that Jeffrey Sklar, M.D., Ph.D., has agreed to join the company's scientific advisory board."These two appointments represent a significant milestone in our growth as a company and the implementation of our strategic vision," said Barrett Bready, M.D., president, CEO and director of Nabsys. "Stan has been deeply involved with Nabsys as a director for the company over the last two years. Stan's expanded involvement, combined with his experience in transforming innovative life science technologies into rapidly growing businesses, will be a great asset to Nabsys as we shift our focus towards commercial development. Dr. Sklar is a leading expert in the field of clinical molecular oncology, and his expertise will help guide the company as it plans how to best address diagnostic opportunities for positional sequencing."
Dr. Rose has over 20 years of experience growing emerging companies and commercializing their technologies. He served as chief executive officer of NimbleGen Systems, Inc., where he oversaw the development, launch and growth of the company's microarray product line from 2003 through the company's acquisition by Roche in 2007. Prior to NimbleGen, Dr. Rose co-founded Genetic MicroSystems, a microarray instrumentation company that was sold to Affymetrix in 2000. He directed Perkin-Elmer's and Applied Biosystems' PCR businesses during their most dynamic growth phases in the 1990's. Dr. Rose received his B.A. from Cornell University and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Tremendous progress has been made over the past decade in reducing the cost and increasing the throughput of DNA sequencing technologies, and enthusiasm for applying these tools in the clinic is rapidly growing," said Dr. Rose. "Going forward, we believe there will be greater focus on issues such as accuracy, information content, data burden, and scalability. Nabsys positional sequencing technology offers compelling advantages with respect to all of these metrics. We envision introducing a portfolio of products over time that will enable various forms of sequence analysis, leveraging the platform's unique ability to reveal information about sequence identity and location."
Similar to PCR, positional sequencing requires a core set of proprietary products (instruments and consumables) which can be applied to power user-defined applications, with the breadth of uses limited only by the creativity of the scientific community. Nabsys is focused on developing tools for genome research, but the technology platform offers compelling advantages in applications ranging from molecular diagnostics to plant breeding. The Company is actively exploring partnerships to address these opportunities outside of the research market.
Dr. Sklar, professor of Pathology and of Laboratory Medicine, director of Molecular Diagnostics Program, director of Molecular Genetics Pathology Fellowship and director of Molecular Tumor Profiling Laboratory at Yale University School of Medicine, has been a pioneer in the application of genome technologies to clinical molecular oncology. Dr. Sklar did his residency and post-doctoral training at Stanford, and held tenured positions at Stanford and Harvard before assuming his present position. He set up the first molecular diagnostics service in the country at Stanford in the early 1980's. His research interests are in the molecular biology of human disease, especially cancer, and the molecular biological methods that can be used for disease diagnosis. He is the author of numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals investigating the genetic processes that underlie oncogenesis. Dr. Sklar received his M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine and his Ph.D. from Yale University.
"The medical community has been waiting for tools that can be broadly disseminated and provide accurate and rapid diagnostic information, particularly in cancer where issues such as sample heterogeneity and the size of genome regions targeted for analysis have posed significant challenges for existing technologies," said Dr. Sklar. "I'm particularly excited about the potential of the technology to analyze clinically important rearrangements of DNA and products of DNA recombination that are not easily assessed by current alternative high-throughput sequencing technologies."
About Nabsys
Nabsys is dedicated to enabling advances in life sciences and healthcare through strategic deployment of a novel positional sequencing platform with broad applicability for DNA analysis. The Nabsys platform uses solid-state nanodetectors to analyze single DNA molecules, revealing both location and identity of DNA sequences over long distances. The system is designed to set new standards for accuracy, speed and scalability, offering compelling advantages for the analysis of genome structural variation, genome mapping, and both targeted and whole genome sequencing. Nabsys was the first company to receive a "$1000 Genome" award from the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health for an electronic approach to sequencing DNA.