NEWCASTLE, England — QuantuMDx Group Limited, a handheld diagnostics and sequencing company, today announced that it has signed an exclusive license agreement with Nanosys Inc., an advanced materials architect, for several patents and patent applications related to the use of nanostructures for biosensors.

The core intellectual property involves the use of nanowires and nanotubes in biosensors, including field effect transistors (FETs) biosensors, which were derived from the work of Prof. Charles Lieber, a professor of chemistry at Harvard and pioneer in nanotechnology.

Under terms of the agreement, QuantuMDx has secured exclusive worldwide rights for the use of nanostructures for DNA sequencing and, amongst others, detecting nucleic acid biomarkers associated with disease. In exchange, Nanosys has received an upfront license fee and downstream royalty payments. No other financial details of the deal were disclosed.

Nanosys owns an extensive IP portfolio around multiple aspects of nanotechnology including quantum dots and nanowires for diverse applications, with a primary focus on LED backlighting and energy storage. QuantuMDx Group will use the exclusive access to these nanowire composition, synthesis and use patents, along with its proprietary molecular biology, chemistry and microfluidic technologies in a series of portable devices for molecular diagnostics and DNA Sequencing.

“The power of Nanosys’s technology is that it enables accurate diagnosis and quantification of multiple biomarkers using small arrays of biosensors that readily lends itself to our ‘DNA sequencing while you wait’ diagnostic devices, with numerous medical, veterinary and military applications” said Elaine Warburton, chief executive officer of QuantuMDx Group.

QuantuMDx Group’s medical director, Professor Sir John Burn, went on to say “We are creating a simple to use, sample to result device which will provide robust, handheld, clinical DNA sequencing at the point of care. The technology is cheap by any measure and with turnaround times in the minutes, it will be an exciting and significant new instrument in the clinical tool box. I believe it will facilitate the wider uptake of DNA sequencing by the medical fraternity.”

Andrew Filler, general counsel and vice president of intellectual property at Nanosys, commented, “Through continued development, licensing and commercialization such as we have done with QuantuMDx, Nanosys is expanding the transformative applications of advanced materials in the marketplace.”

About QuantuMDx Group Limited

QuantuMDx Group is a U.K. based nanomedtech company founded by Elaine Warburton, an experienced healthcare chief executive and Jonathan O’Halloran, a molecular biologist and the inventor of QuantuMDx Group’s technology. QuantuMDx Group is developing and commercializing affordable handheld sample-to-result diagnostic and genomic sequencing technologies based around a nanowire biosensor and innovative microfluidics. The company has offices in the U.K. and U.S.A.. Additional information on QuantuMDx Group can be found at www.quantumdx.com

About Nanosys, Inc.

Nanosys, Inc. is an advanced material architect, harnessing the fundamental properties of inorganic materials into process ready systems that can integrate into existing manufacturing to produce vastly superior products in lighting, electronic displays and energy storage. Based in Palo Alto, Nanosys has built one of the broadest technology platforms in the industry with over 750 patents and patent applications covering fundamental areas of nanotechnology. Additional information on Nanosys can be found at www.nanosysinc.com.