News

The latest news and blog posts from the World Nano Foundation.

Arnold Kristoff 3/27/23 Arnold Kristoff 3/27/23

Whitepaper: From centralized to decentralized healthcare - overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities through nanotechnology

Introduction:

Nanoscale innovation – notably nanomedicine and nano diagnostics – can be a gamechanger for healthcare, enabling a paradigm shift from a centralized model to a decentralized approach in that sector.

Nanotechnology involves the design, production, and use of materials at nanoscale level – a nanometre is a billionth of a metre. In healthcare, this tiny technology can diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases more effectively, delivering much improved health outcomes for patients.

This white paper aims to explore the many practical and commercial healthcare applications for nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology healthcare applications:

Nanoparticles can be used to create prosthetic limbs, pacemakers, and other medical devices.

· Diagnostics: nanoparticles can be used to detect biomarkers for various diseases, including cancer, through techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and positron emission tomography (PET).

Nanoparticles can also be engineered to bind to specific cells or tissues, easing disease identification and diagnosis.

· Therapeutics and drug delivery: nanoparticles engineered to carry drugs can then target specific cells or tissues, reducing the amount of drug needed, controlling the dosage over a specified time if required and minimizing side effects. For example, nanoparticles can carry chemotherapy drugs directly to cancer cells, boosting efficacy of the treatment while reducing side effects.

· Implants: nanoparticles can help create biocompatible implants, more readily accepted by the body. This technology can be used to create prosthetic limbs, pacemakers, and other medical devices.

· Anti-counterfeiting: nanotechnology can prevent counterfeiting of commercial drugs by adding tiny particles, known as quantum dots, to the drug packaging or the drug itself. Quantum dots are nanoscale crystals that emit a specific colour when excited by light. The colour can be controlled by changing the size of the quantum dots.

Investment and commercial start-ups:

The nanotechnology market size for healthcare applications, such as nanomedicine, nano diagnostics, quantum dot materials, cancer treatments using nanotechnology, and graphene – another nanomaterial – is hard to quantify as it encompasses various sub-sectors and applications. However, a recent report by Grand View Research, valued the global nanotechnology market at USD 54.2 billion and forecast a 14.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from now up to 2028.

Nanomedicine is one of the fastest-growing nanotechnologies, driven by advancements in drug delivery, disease diagnosis, and imaging technologies. Allied Market Research has valued the global nanomedicine market size at nearly $200 million, and projects it will almost double to $393 million by 2030 with a 9.2% CAGR.

Nano diagnostics is another promising nanotechnology sub-sector, driven by increasing demand for point-of-care testing, personalized medicine, and non-invasive diagnostic technologies. Market Research Future has forecast a global nano diagnostics market worth $15.8 billion by 2027 on the back of a 7.8% CAGR.

Quantum dots has emerged as a new class of nanomaterials with unique optical and electronic properties for various healthcare applications, including imaging, drug delivery, and cancer therapy. MarketsandMarkets says the quantum dot market will hit $8.6 billion by 2026, representing a CAGR of 16.2%.

A report by Precedence Research has valued the global cancer treatments market at $286 billion and expects it to more than double to $581 billion by 2030 - a 8.2% CAGR.

Cancer treatments using nanotechnology and nanoparticles are also making healthcare headlines, with several promising drug delivery and imaging technologies in development. A report by Precedence Research has valued the global cancer treatments market at $286 billion and expects it to more than double to $581 billion by 2030 - a 8.2% CAGR.

Graphene, a two-dimensional nanomaterial with unique mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties, offers yet more healthcare breakthroughs, notably in drug delivery, biosensors, and tissue engineering. FortuneBusinessInsights has estimated the global graphene market at $337 million, growing to over $2 billion by 2029 – a 30.5% CAGR.

Not surprisingly, the nanotechnology opportunities in healthcare has fostered numerous start-ups and developments, notably:

· Nanospectra Biosciences: has a technology called AuroLase using gold nanoparticles to treat cancer. The nanoparticles are injected into the body and then activated by a laser, which heats the particles and destroys cancer cells.

· Respicardia: has created a pacemaker-like device that uses nanotechnology to stimulate the phrenic nerve, which controls breathing. The device is used to treat sleep apnea, a condition that causes breathing to stop and start during sleep.

· Nanopore Technologies: has developed a device that uses nanopores – tiny pores in a nanomaterial – to sequence DNA in real-time, providing rapid and accurate results.

· BIND Therapeutics: is a biopharmaceutical company researching nanotechnology-based targeted delivery of therapeutic drugs to cancer cells.

· Niramai: uses nanotechnology-based thermal imaging for the early detection of breast cancer.

· Resonant Nanotech: develops and produces graphene-based biosensors for various applications, including point-of-care diagnostics and environmental monitoring.

· CytImmune: specialises in cancer treatments based on its proprietary nanotechnology platform, which enhances delivery of therapeutic agents to tumors.

· Exicure: develops gene therapies using its proprietary nanotechnology-based platform, which enhances the delivery of therapeutic nucleic acids to target cells.

Academic Institutes:

Numerous academic institutes are also working to apply the science of nanotechnology and improve healthcare outcomes, and here are some of the most notable:

UCLA is creating nanotechnology-based therapies for conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurological disorders.

The Center for Nanomedicine and Biomedical Engineering, USA – located at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the center is creating nanotechnology-based therapies for various acute conditions, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurological disorders.

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, USA – is at Harvard University and developing nanotechnology-based medical devices, including implantable sensors and drug delivery systems.

The Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, USA – based in Palo Alto, California, the institute is developing molecular machines, including nanobots to treat diseases.

National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore – the NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Initiative (NUSNNI) is a multidisciplinary research centre focused on innovative nanotechnology solutions for healthcare, including nanomedicine, nano diagnostics, and nano biosensors.

Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI), China – a joint research venture between Tsinghua University and the University of California, Berkeley, its nanotechnology research includes nanomedicine, cancer therapy, and drug delivery.

University College London (UCL), UK – the UCL Centre for Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine focuses on research into nanomedicine, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering.

University of Cambridge, UK – the Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials (CCMM) is a multidisciplinary research center working on advanced materials for healthcare applications, with key areas being nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, and medical implants.

Technical University of Munich, Germany – the Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI) is developing innovative imaging technologies for healthcare applications, especially through nanotechnology-based imaging agents, molecular imaging, and in vivo imaging.

KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden – the Division of Nanobiotechnology at KTH is working on nanotechnology-based solutions for healthcare applications, notably nanomedicine, biosensors, and drug delivery using nanoparticles.

Monash University, Australia – the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) is researching innovative drug delivery systems using nanotechnologies, notably nanomedicine, targeted drug delivery, and nanoscale drug formulation.

Potential Barriers to healthcare decentralization:

Transition from a centralized to a decentralized healthcare model is a complex and challenging process needing significant investment, technological innovation, and policy changes.

Barriers to entry can include:

· Infrastructure: decentralized healthcare requires a robust and efficient infrastructure, including communication networks, data storage and sharing systems, and often expensive cutting-edge medical devices.

This can be costly and time-consuming, especially in developing countries with limited resources. However, advances in technology, such as cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT), can help here by sharing data and knowledge, while many nanotechnology healthcare breakthroughs are also cutting the cost of care, a point raised by a Forbes report:

“Nanotechnologies are able to significantly improve medical diagnostics by making them less expensive and convenient. A great example of this is smart pills, enabling doctors and patients to monitor a staggering number of diseases.”

· Regulatory and policy barriers: these can impede transition to decentralized healthcare. For example, current regulations may not allow the telemedicine or remote monitoring technologies essential to decentralized healthcare.

· Patient adoption: patients may resist new technologies and healthcare delivery models, so it is essential to invest in educating patients about the benefits of decentralized healthcare and provide them with easy-to-use and accessible technologies.

Conclusion:

Nanoscale innovation offers significant support towards decentralization of healthcare systems allowing early intervention solutions delivered at the point of care for better outcomes, rather than sending patients to a central location.

Decentralisation can achieve this by enabling earlier and more accurate diagnoses, personalized treatments, and remote monitoring, while applications such as nanomedicine, nano diagnostics, and nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems are helping to shift the focus from treating illnesses – often when they are too well established – to preventing or catching them early.

By improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs, nanotech innovation is also helping to create a more patient-centric and accessible healthcare system.

Further nanotechnology investment and research can only speed the beneficial transition to a decentralized early intervention healthcare model.

Jack Hare 1/27/22 Jack Hare 1/27/22

Anti-viral drugs can be final solution as WHO warns against lowering our guard to COVID-19

Suggestions that COVID-19 is on the wane have been strongly contradicted by the World Health Organization’s senior pandemics scientist, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove.

And her criticism of virus complacency has fuelled calls for research and development of anti-viral drugs to stop all coronaviruses at source, in addition to ongoing vaccines and testing for COVID-19 variants.

Dr Van Kerkhove, a highly regarded infectious disease epidemiologist and World Health Organization (WHO) Head of the Emerging Diseases and Zoonoses Unit, delivered her wake-up call in a BBC TV interview where she insisted that COVID-19 was still evolving and the world must evolve with it:

“It will not end with this latest wave (Omicron) and it will not be the last variant you will hear us (WHO) speaking about – unfortunately,” she told BBC interviewer Sophie Raworth.

Countries with high immunity and vaccination levels were starting to think the pandemic is over, she added, but despite 10 billion vaccine doses delivered globally, more than three billion people were yet to receive one dose, leaving the world highly susceptible to further COVID mutations - a global problem for which a global solution was needed.

She also challenged assumptions that the COVID Omicron variant was mild: “It is still putting people in hospital…and it will not be the last (variant). There is no guarantee that the next one will be less severe. We must keep the pressure up – we cannot give it a free ride.”

WNF Chairman Paul Stannard said: “We welcome Dr Van Kerkhove’s timely intervention. Too many people think we can sit back with COVID now, forgetting lessons learned the hard way.

“Such as there’s always another variant just around the corner, and testing and vaccines are not the complete answer.

“Even if Omicron seems milder than its predecessors – though this may be due to vaccinations and growing herd immunity – who can say that a more fatal COVID mutation will not follow, or an all-new virus is waiting to strike.

“Many other pathogens have entered humans in last 15 years including SARS, Ebola, Zika virus and Indian Flu variants, so permanent pandemic protection investment is vital to restoring confidence in our way of life and the global markets.

“An even older lesson is Spanish Flu (1918-20): the death toll was relatively contained initially, lulling people already fatigued by WW1 devastation into thinking the worst was over.

“But that virus then mutated into its most deadly strain, killing 50 million people when Earth’s population numbered less than two billion. All of which suggests we must maintain or redouble our efforts against COVID-19 and other potential threats.

“We have already benefitted from greater healthcare investment and research due to the pandemic: experts say the first six months of the emergency delivered sector progress equivalent to the previous 10 years.

“This helped unusually rapid deployment of new and better testing and vaccines that have driven down infection, hospitalization and deaths, but we hope that the WHO view will now foster a new and potentially more effective development against COVID and other threats – anti-viral drugs.

“Instead of attacking the virus like a vaccine, anti-viral drugs aim to stop it functioning in the human body. Merck and Pfizer say they have re-purposed existing drugs to do just that.

“But a better option is gathering momentum using nanomedicine, AI and advanced computational technology to develop all-new drugs more quickly and effectively, potentially delivering breakthroughs against many serious killers, including viruses, cancers and heart disease.

“WNF believes these can disrupt the traditional pharmaceutical industry as Tesla has done in the auto industry, or SpaceX and Blue Origin have done in space.”

California-based Verseon has developed an AI and computational drug development platform and has six drug candidates, including an anti-viral drug to potentially block all coronaviruses and some flu variants, potentially transforming pandemic protection.

This could be on the market within 18 months after securing a final $60 million investment, a small amount compared to the $1 billion pharma industry norm for a single new drug (source: Biospace), and weighed against 5.6 million COVID deaths globally and an estimated $3 trillion in economic output (source: Statista) lost since the start of the pandemic.

Verseon Head of Discovery Biology Anirban Datta said: “Vaccines and the current anti-viral drugs are retrospective solutions that don’t treat newly emergent strains. We need a different strategy to avoid always being one step behind viral mutations.

“So, we switched target from the virus to the human host. If we stop SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) entering our cells which, unlike viruses, don’t mutate then we have a long-term solution.

“Even better, the strategy should work against other coronaviruses and influenza strains that use the same mechanism as SARS-CoV-2 to infect cells – a key point, since it surely won’t be the last pandemic to affect humanity.”

Jack Hare 5/25/21 Jack Hare 5/25/21

Surging nanomedicine investments improve global healthcare and pandemic protection

COVID-19’s outbreak has coincided with investments flooding into nanomedicine healthcare companies, according to the latest data.

Nano Magazine have highlighted a report by marketdataforecast.com that the global nanomedicine market worth $141.34 billion in 2020, will rise to $258.11bn by 2025.

The report also highlights a huge upsurge of investment support from governments and funds to develop nano therapies for vaccines, diagnostic imaging, regenerative medicine, and drug delivery following the impact of COVID-19.

Furthermore, nanomedicines offer huge advantages for wider healthcare also impacted by the pandemic and Long-COVID after-effects upon cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, immunological-related diseases.

This aligns with investment monitoring platform Pitchbook’s forecast that health tech investment overall will top $10 trillion by 2022 and that nanomedicine investment has grown the sector by 250% in the last five years.

Median nanotech healthcare deal sizes have also doubled since 2019, from £1 million to £2m in 2021, while the number of deals in 2020 was greater than ever, overtaking 100 deals in a single year for the first time.

*Nanomedicine is transforming healthcare innovation and delivering early intervention and targeted drug delivery and testing*

Investment is already aiding innovation as nanotech researchers and scientists work to improve biomedical devices such as prosthetics, provide new cancer treatments, and develop bone healing therapies, along with more innovations that could transform global healthcare.

Nanotech researchers have found nanobodies that block the COVID-19 and, potentially, other coronaviruses from entering cells and developed mask designs at nanoscale making them both cheaper and more effective.

The fast global response to the pandemic was also enabled by nanotechnology, being pivotal in Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine development and Innova Medical Group’s 30-minute lateral flow COVID tests.

World Nano Foundation co-founder Paul Stannard said COVID-19 highlighted weaknesses in healthcare systems across the developed world, proving that long-term, innovative solutions are needed to enable change and prevent future pandemics, with nanomedicine playing an ever greater role in this transformation of global healthcare.

And while impressed by rising investments in and recognition for the nanotech sector, he warned against any let-up in this trend:

“Nanotechnology is not only crucial to our current healthcare systems, but researchers and scientists in this field are on the cusp of therapies, devices, and innovation that will revolutionise how we move forward.”

“To ensure pandemic preparedness, high-quality healthcare, and longevity, we must invest in nano healthtech and care innovations.”

His message was echoed by Kojo Annan (son of late and former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan) who is a general partner in the Luxembourg-based Vector Innovation Fund, which recently launched a sub-fund raising an initial $300m for pandemic protection and preparedness.

Annan said: “A virtuous circle is developing between investment and healthtech.

“Lately, we have seen the development of multiple vaccines, acceleration of technologies linked to decoding the genome, the rise of nanomedicine and the use of artificial intelligence to monitor infectious diseases and new pathogens.

“More investment in sustainable healthtech funding can only accelerate this trend, bringing fairer and global distribution of healthcare, greater affordability, and preventive and early intervention healthcare, all ultimately improving the longevity of life.

“The pandemic has also transformed telemedicine investment and demonstrated that nanoscience and innovation could deliver more resilient societies and ecosystems for healthcare.”

Jack Hare 5/7/21 Jack Hare 5/7/21

Tech investing is the key to Biden’s ‘Race to Zero’ to avoid climate crisis

President Biden’s ‘Race to Zero’ to reduce carbon emissions is underway, and go-ahead companies are jockeying to deliver emerging tech solutions to win it.

Leading nations including the USA (2nd biggest carbon emitter globally*), UK (17th), France (19th), Denmark, New Zealand, Japan(5th), and South Korea (8th) have committed to reaching net-zero by 2050. The world’s No1 emitter, China, has committed to net-zero by 2060. However, the International Energy Agency forecasts 2021 carbon emissions will be the second-highest ever recorded annually.

"It's easy to see the financial and environmental benefits of using advanced technology to accelerate the launch of ‘Race to Zero’, pushing back against urban pollution, health risk and Climate Change and a future multi-trillion-dollar cost in economic and environmental damage," said Vector Innovation Fund Co-Founder & The World Nano Foundation’s Paul Stannard.

Cities cover just 3% of the Earth but contribute 70% of global carbon emissions. Advanced technologies can provide the essential interconnectivity to drive this down.

Yet many tech companies say the tools for reaching net-zero already exist. One sector, in particular, is forging ahead in the battle to reduce carbon emissions in our cities using AI Digital Twin technology.

One Digital Twin market pioneer involved is Cityzenith’s whose SmartWorldOS™ software platform can create virtual replicas of buildings and urban areas to track, manage and optimize carbon emissions to minimize environmental damage.

The US company’s tech is currently deployed in multiple international megaprojects, including a substantial ground-breaking de-carbonization energy scheme for US cities.

Cityzenith’s CEO Michael Jansen said, “Cities are the key battleground, and that’s why we made our ‘Clean Cities – Clean Future’ pledge to donate our SmartWorldOS™ software platform to key cities one by one to drive down their carbon emission”.

Swiss-based company Climeworks has focused on carbon capture rather than emission management. Its Orca facility is designed to suck some 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year.

Climeworks Christoph Beuttler believes carbon capture facilities like Orca must go mainstream if we are to reach net-zero:

"In order to stay within the 1.5-degree goal (to avoid Climate Change), we have 8-10 years left of current emissions, and we will not make that so, globally, we will have to remove CO2 from the atmosphere permanently."

Fortunately, technology now attracts significant investment. Cityzenith has added over 5000 investors as part of its $15m Regulation A+ crowdfunding raise since the end of 2020. Climate-focused investment funds such as US-based Congruent Ventures and the European fund, 2150, have recently supported start-ups and companies developing essential climate solutions. This form of investment is forecasted to run into trillions of dollars in the next 5 to 10 years.

But Cityzenith's Jansen added: " We must invest immediately, to act now and more effectively to protect our planet. "

Jansen's upcoming FREE investment webinar, 'Join The Race to Zero – Investing in Technology For Sustainable Cities,' will take place virtually on Tuesday 11 May at 08:00 CT and 13:00 CT. To learn more about using emerging tech to combat Climate Change, please sign up here.

Jack Hare 3/18/21 Jack Hare 3/18/21

Nanotech-powered £1 a day testing strategy can accelerate global recovery from pandemic

The rapid mass testing strategy costing just £1 a day per child can get children back to school and economies up and running, according to experts.

That is the small price of the rapid mass testing across schools in the UK, which is also hard on the heels of one of the world’s swiftest and most successful vaccination programmes.

A double whammy of rapid testing and vaccine deployment applied internationally could lead to a reduction of the human and economic hardship caused by much-criticised lockdown strategies, as well as the continued failure of ‘Track and Trace,’ which has swallowed up £32 billion in the UK.

The UK Government’s investment in vaccines started early, but its equally far-sighted adoption of inexpensive lateral flow test (LFT) kits is less well known.

The economical LFT utilizes nanoparticles to detect virus fragments in a test sample, identifying whether a subject is SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatic within 30 minutes. An individual can immediately isolate after a positive test, preventing transmission of COVID-19 at a rapid pace.

Some early scepticism about the devices has since been overwhelmed by new data and a robust rebuttal from Dr Susan Hopkins, COVID-19 Strategic Response Director to Public Health England, who said:

“Up to one in three people who have coronavirus never show any symptoms (asymptomatic) but that does not mean they are not infectious. Using LFTs enables us to rapidly identify people in the population who are asymptomatic, with results produced in 30 minutes.

“Lateral flow devices are effective at finding people with high viral loads who are most infectious and most likely to transmit the virus to others.”

And she added that the latest data suggested LFTs “are at least 99.9% specific which means that the risk of false positives is extremely low – less than one in a thousand.”

UK Government-sponsored LFT use in workplaces is already widespread, with nearly 50,000 UK businesses already registered for free kits, so that employees can be tested at least twice a week with fast results, enabling them to return to work and their children to get back into the classroom.

Each pupil must take two tests (£3.50 each) a week to show whether they need to be taken out of class to avoid infecting others and the same approach will be used for parents in the workplace.

“That’s remarkable value-for-money. £1 a day for an ‘insurance policy’ to enable schools to open, mums and dads to properly return to work, and the country to accelerate out of lockdown with the re-opening of hospitality and major venues no longer a distant prospect,” said Paul Sheedy, Co-founder of the not-for-profit World Nano Foundation (WNF) that promotes healthcare innovation and believes mass testing kits using nanotechnology are central to future pandemic protection.

Sheedy himself has co-developed Test2Suppress™ modelling to highlight how an LFT ‘Test to Suppress’ campaign allows early detection and immediate isolation, reducing the need for lockdowns.

He added: “The Government is rightly cautious about ending lockdown too early, so its medical advisors will pore over the data to check that the return to school and all workplaces maintain the falling infection rate.”

The next major battle will be the full re-opening of hospitality and major sporting and entertainment venues.

Britain’s Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has announced plans for 20,000 fans to watch the FA Cup Final on May 15 and for a dozen other events, including the World Snooker Championships starting on April 17, to go ahead providing spectators return a negative LFT and can be tested again afterwards. This means they will not need to comply with social distancing at the event.

This level of social interaction will finalise ‘Operation Moonshot’ – the Johnson Government’s use of targeted mass testing to halt and drive back COVID-19.

Daniel Elliott, CEO of Innova Medical Group – the world's biggest supplier of COVID-19 LFT kits – confirmed that the UK government was his biggest customer, with a billionth kit about to be delivered and the company looking to open a UK production site to meet demand.

Innova is also in discussions with UK pharmacy chains to sell direct to consumers and Elliott added: "A mass testing strategy is most protective in businesses like personal care, pubs, clubs and a lot of events, where close contact in enclosed spaces can't be avoided."

Jack Hare 2/25/21 Jack Hare 2/25/21

World Nano Foundation backs key steps for pandemic protection and preparedness

When the inquest opens on millions of deaths caused by COVID-19, the questions should be: “How did it catch us out?”, “what did we learn” and “what do we do in future?”

The unpalatable answer to the first question “how did it catch us out?” is: “It shouldn’t have.”

“What did we learn?” along with “what do we do in future?” according to the World Nano Foundation (WNF) the not-for-profit organisation that advances innovation and commercialisation of nanoscale technologies.

WNF Co-founder Paul Sheedy said: “With the human and economic costs of COVID still rising, all nations surely know they must invest in technology and innovation against ongoing pandemic threats, especially after ignoring previous warning signs.

“We had had successive COVID-like outbreaks like SARS and MERS, the shocking 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in Africa which killed more than 11,000 and now threatens to erupt again in Liberia, plus historic devastation from events like Spanish Flu (1918-20) which killed up to 50 million people globally, and ongoing killers like Cholera.

“Some Asia-Pacific nations, notably Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia heeded recent warnings and put early intervention measures in place that moderated COVID’s impact, but most of the rest of the world failed to prepare early enough to act using data and technology within diagnostics, tele-medicine, universal vaccines, nanomedicines and early intervention treatments.

He quoted a recent Bloomberg report suggesting that the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) received a detailed plan from pharma firm GlaxoSmithKline in 2017 suggesting vaccine technologies to pursue, plus an organisational chart for a 180-strong task force of scientists, doctors, and others to execute the scheme at a cost of $595 million over 10 years.

Sheedy added: “Amazingly, an operation like this was well within the brief envisaged by Washington when it created BARDA in 2006, effectively to develop or procure drugs and vaccines, and promote action against bioterrorism plus pandemic and infectious threats.”

The Bloomberg report highlighted how Glaxo even offered an under-utilized lab and production plant in Rockville, Maryland and experts there who might work alongside government agencies and non-profit organisations on vaccines, but nothing came of the company’s initiative.

Sheedy added: “It looks like a major lost opportunity, compounded by a US government decision to disband the dedicated pandemic response unit at the National Security Council in May 2018, at a time when nanotechnology initiatives could have made great strides to protect against the current disaster.

“It’s not as though COVID hit us like a tsunami; not only had we witnessed those earlier and similar infectious diseases, but many experts were warning in late 2019 about what to expect, and now we all do – at a cost far higher than if governments had acted on those earlier pandemics,

“The good news is the whole world knows it is now time to invest in advanced technologies to save lives and our economies in relation to the long-term effects of long COVID on healthcare and before another pandemic hits, and this kind of investment will also have a positive impact on healthcare provision generally.”

This awareness is reflected by the recent launch of the Luxembourg-based Vector Innovation Fund, with its $300m Pandemic Protection sub-fund based around better protection and preparedness from infectious diseases using technologies that enhance future global healthcare and to unlock potential growth and prosperity from innovative and disruptive technologies such as nanoscale innovations.

This sub-fund will target the long-term effects of COVID-19 on healthcare and future pandemics and ignite a new tech-driven era in global healthcare, a sector tipped to soar by 50% extra each year towards a market worth $1.333 trillion by 2027 (source: Precedence Research 2020)

Paul Sheedy also endorsed a five-point pandemic ‘insurance’ plan in the Bloomberg report: “Five steps towards victory against the next pandemic threat – whatever that may be.”

The five steps for pandemic protection:

Pathogen surveillance

Humans now live ever-closer to animals, increasing the risk of new and unknown infections crossing from species such as bats and pangolins – the suspected ‘bridges’ for the COVID-19 infection – into humans, while global travel enables the rapid spread of any outbreak.

Peter Daszak, an expert virus hunter at the EcoHealth Alliance research group, suggests governments should track and intervene against emerging viruses as they would terrorists, before they wreak havoc, but it is a big task.

Daszak estimates there are some 1.7 million unknown mammal viruses that could spread to humans and proposes a $1 billion programme to identify at least two-thirds of these, so resources can be tailored to track and reduce pandemic risk.

Others call for consensus on the right actions for the start of an outbreak to avoid the inconsistent response to COVID’s arrival; the jury is still out on which countries made the right calls on social distancing and lockdowns.

A tougher ‘World Health Organisation’

COVID-19 has highlighted the need for a cohesive global pandemic surveillance and response partnership.

The World Health Organization should be that body but has been criticised for deference to China and for being slow to declare COVID as a global emergency. The WHO’s response was that it must stay diplomatic and cannot force member states to reply to its requests.

But experts argue that if the world is to get better at spotting and then acting against the next pandemic, then individual nations must not hide local outbreaks until they erupt into global issues, as happened with COVID in China and Ebola in West Africa.

Instead, it needs to be a more co-ordinated approach under a beefed up WHO-style body – one label being used is “a biological NATO” with rapid response powers.

This ‘super-WHO’ might also use combined financial muscle to: fund elimination of ‘wet markets’ where wild and live animals are sold for food; discourage jungle deforestation - which pushes animals and the viruses closer to humans -; and train more local field workers in remote regions to augment the current ad hoc system where the WHO, charities, universities and volunteers combine against emerging threats, but risk being too slow.

Genetic sequencing

Virus ‘Tracking and Tracing’ has enjoyed a mixed press during the COVID-19 pandemic and many scientists think it should give way to gene sequencing, made possible by a huge increase in the number of such machines, making it possible to sequence a virus genome for as little at $50.

This would allow tracking and data on the virus to be assessed quickly and acted upon while also gathering intelligence on possible mutations and their resistance to current vaccines.

The UK has become a leader here and used sequencing to identify what has become known as the ‘UK variant’ of COVID-19.

Faster vaccine development

One area where governments responded well against COVID-19 is in quickly developing several effective vaccines against the virus, but experts warn that we up the pace: better preparation could have made current vaccines available even earlier, while new ones need to be evolved or developed now against COVID variants and other threats as yet unknown.

Some say the goal must be investment in vaccines and drugs that protect against multiple viruses.

Ironing out distribution and logistics

In a world of Amazon deliveries and supermarket shelves groaning with produce from far flung places, it might be thought that moving medicines should be equally simple and well-organised, but COVID-19 has shown the opposite.

The sometimes chaotic acquisition and transporting of Personal Protection Equipment as well as movement and distribution of vaccines – some with sensitive shipping and storage needs – plus the ad hoc vaccination infrastructures, all show that more needs to be done in this area.

Incoming US President Joe Biden moved quickly to sets up an American network of mobile community vaccination centres.

Jack Hare 2/9/21 Jack Hare 2/9/21

UK GOVERNMENT AND SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS GET BEHIND COMMUNITY RAPID MASS TESTING

Following on from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s quoted £7bn mass testing “Moonshot” programme where the government are deploying over £1.2bn’s worth of rapid lateral flow antigen tests to identify asymptomatic cases in communities and workplaces.

In what many believe was a game changer in preventing lockdowns across the world, in the UK, community and workplace lateral flow rapid test kits (LFTs) have been mobilised now for door-to-door delivery – the UK government has secured more than 400 million of these kits – for its “Test to Suppress” strategy as well as to address fears that the South African variant had broken out in areas of the country.

The World Nano Foundation and scientific leaders say regular use of inexpensive mass lateral flow rapid antigen test kits is the way to beat COVID-19, its variants, and future viruses. Governments and politicians are now reducing the spread of the virus and ensuring a quicker return to normality for their electorate and themselves by adopting a mass testing approach to pinpoint hotspots, thus targeting areas, and preventing wide scale restrictions.

As vaccination quickens for vulnerable members of society, the next prize is to get the world’s economies moving, with mass frequent testing as the key, using the mantra ‘test to suppress’, and as an early warning system to protect against new strains and future outbreaks. By using mass rapid testing, it can be identified where there are infectious cases and ensure that the virus is not passed on, breaking chains of transmission and allowing non-infected communities to continue without disruption.

These simple-to-manufacture rapid tests have shown a thousand-fold increase in the effectiveness and accuracy of testing with this technology. The kits can produce a positive result even when there are fewer antigens to the virus in the sample – vital for finding asymptomatic individuals and ‘super-spreaders’.

Many other countries and industries are now adopting this technology.

This week, The Biden administration announced the investment of $230 million in at-home coronavirus testing kits, to identify cases of the virus across the country to break chains of transmission and prevent new strains from disrupting communities and workplaces.

Innova Medical – the world's largest manufacturer of rapid lateral flow antigen tests is ramping up to 50 million a day by the spring – has also confirmed that its COVID-19 product is effective in detecting variant strains such as the British (Kent), South African, and Brazilian variants, which appear more contagious than the earlier strains.

"As these dangerous strains show signs of increased transmissibility across communities, the global effort to eliminate COVID-19 requires frequent, comprehensive and equitable testing that can detect these emerging strains," said Daniel Elliott, President and CEO of Innova Medical Group.

Elliot added that numerous studies have shown that rapid antigen tests are an important tool for identifying infectious people quickly and equitably, even when they may not have COVID-19 symptoms, in ways not possible with slower, more expensive, centralised lab-based tests.

He said the virus continues to morph its genetic ribonucleic acid (RNA) to generate new and potentially more contagious variants, but Innova's antigen test is effective because it looks for multiple proteins in the virus.

Workplace and community rapid mass testing is already starting to take place to keep economies moving and the entertainment and sports industries are said to be looking at a ‘day pass’ testing approach using LFT kits, in the same way that temperature checks were made on people using restaurants and pubs between lockdowns.

A trial is already under way in France using a music theatre to give day pass security so that people can start attending mass events again.

World Health Organisation Special Envoy on COVID-19, David Nabarro, had already suggested this approach:

"We’ve seen it (rapid mass testing) used in many different locations, for example in trying to keep aircraft free of people who’ve got COVID or looking after major events.”

A UK Government initiative offering LFTs in workplaces - healthcare, education, and local authorities, with private companies such as Royal Mail, the DVLA and Tate & Lyle Sugars also adopting frequent rapid testing.

Globally renowned British doctors’ journal, The Lancet, backed this approach after publishing an exhaustive study of quarantine and testing measures, and leading UK scientists and clinical experts have added their weight.

Oxford University researchers found the UK Government's most sensitive LFTs detected 83-90% of all infectious cases of COVID-19 and, with the UK investing more than £1.5bn in these test kits so far.

Oxford’s Regius Professor of Medicine, Sir John Bell underlined the benefit of these tests removing infectious people from high-risk environments: “They’ve found 25,000 cases just in healthcare, which may have prevented tens of thousands of cases of the disease.”

Tim Peto, Professor of Medicine, Infectious Disease, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Oxford University addressed the contrasts between PCR (polymerase chain reaction) swab testing and lateral flow kits:

“PCR is very good at telling you’ve had the virus or got the virus, but it doesn’t tell you whether you are infectious or not and the other problem about the swab test is that it takes a day or two…to get the answer back. The LFT has the enormous advantage of giving you an answer in about 30 minutes.”

He said this allows immediate self-isolation and individuals can also quickly advise their contacts so, “within a few hours, a local outbreak can be detected. This can’t be done with the swab (PCR) tests” adding that LFTs “detect people with high viral loads…the very people who are infectious.”

The World Nano Foundation (WNF) promotes healthcare technology and predicts that mass testing is central to future pandemic protection.

The not-for-profit organisation’s Co-founder Paul Sheedy said: “Our research shows how healthcare diagnostics technology will shift dramatically to a more decentralised community early intervention model, against potential epidemics and pandemics.

“The Test2Suppress™ campaign shows that intensive front-line initiatives using rapid test kits available to the individual will allow early detection and immediate isolation, reducing the need for lockdowns.

“And our simulation maps how consecutive daily tests for three days can rapidly identify and isolate infectious people. Weekly testing can then sustain a low infection rate even in a large population.

“A key point previously missed by some experts is that high quality rapid lateral flow tests are not for people who already think they have COVID-19; it’s about everyone else testing frequently to check they are not infectious.

“Used alongside vaccines and other preventative methods, these simple tests have been developed from colloidal gold nanoparticle research and are a vital component in the battle to defeat the virus and it’s future variants.

“Rapid community testing is simpler, faster, cheaper, more effective and mobilises everyone to help themselves, their relatives, friends, and colleagues, to keep everyone safe.

“With the work that we do, we know that there are even more exciting technologies on the way that will be central to the world’s fight for pandemic protection and future healthcare.

“We have already seen the danger from not being on our guard against renewed viral threats. Spanish Flu struck in 1918, killing up to 50 million people in four waves, the last two being most deadly because public health warnings were not adhered to.”

This means that there will be a revolution in healthcare in the coming years. Healthcare investment is forecast to grow at a rate of nearly 50% a year towards a market set to be worth $1.333 trillion by 2027*. The acceleration highlights wide recognition that the world cannot afford the human and economic cost of another pandemic.

One international investment platform is a Pandemic Protection alternative investment fund operated by Vector Innovation Fund in Luxembourg focused on limiting the effect of long form Covid-19, insulating the world against the impact of future pandemics, whilst minimising any impact on the global economy and healthcare provision and preparedness.

The Vector Innovation Fund is a Reserved Alternative Investment Fund (RAIF) specialising in support for technology companies able to transform global markets, notably in global healthcare, sustainability and longevity. These transformational technologies come from the nanotechnology, biotech, AI and machine learning, medical devices, therapies and digital health sectors.

Arnold Kristoff 2/2/21 Arnold Kristoff 2/2/21

Nanotech powered mass testing now the key to unlocking Covid-19 lockdowns

The World Nano Foundation and pandemic experts say regular mass use of inexpensive lateral flow rapid antigen test kits is now the way to beat back against COVID-19, its variants and future virus threats.

As vaccination gathers pace for vulnerable members of the population, the next prize is to re-open societies and get the world’s economies moving, with mass frequent testing as the key, using the mantra ‘test to suppress’, and as an early warning system to protect against new strains and future outbreaks.

These simple-to-manufacture rapid tests employ the nano colloidal gold testing method already used in diagnostics prior to the pandemic. Results have shown a thousand-fold increase in the effectiveness and accuracy of testing with this technology. The kits can produce a positive result even when there is a lower level of antigens of the virus in the sample – vital for finding asymptomatic individuals and potential ‘super-spreaders’.

In what many believe was the trial for nationwide testing to end the lockdown, the UK’s anti-COVID-19 resources were mobilised for a door-to-door delivery of lateral flow test (LFT) kits – the UK government has secured more than 400 million of these – for its test to suppress strategy as well as to address fears that the South African variant had broken out in areas of the country.

Other countries and industry groups are now adopting this technology.

Innova Medical – the world's largest manufacturer of rapid antigen test kits – has also confirmed that its COVID-19 product is effective in detecting variant strains such as the UK (Kent), South Africa, and Brazil variants, which appear more contagious than the original.

Elliot added that numerous scientific studies have shown that rapid antigen tests are an important tool for identifying infectious people quickly and equitably, even when they may not have COVID-19 symptoms, in ways not possible with slower, more expensive, centralised lab-based tests.

Innova produces more than 10 million test kits daily but aims to ramp this up to 50 million by spring and rivals are expected to follow suit.

A trial is already under way in France using a music theatre to give day pass security so that people can start attending mass events again.

World Health Organisation Special Envoy on COVID-19, David Nabarro, had already suggested this approach:

"We’ve seen it (rapid mass testing) used in many different locations, particularly for example in trying to keep aircraft free of people who’ve got COVID or looking after major events.”

Using LFTs will keep economies open, health systems safe and allow audiences to attend entertainment and sporting events, he added.

A UK Government initiative offering LFTs in workplaces started with essential health workers, the education sector, and local authorities in the UK. Private companies have also been given the option – early adopters included the Royal Mail, DVLA and Tate & Lyle Sugars.

Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock said around one in three infected people do not show symptoms, so testing was vital to break the chains of transmission; workplace testing offers peace of mind to those unable to work from home during lockdown.

He added: “LFTs have already been hugely successful in finding positive cases we would not otherwise find, and I encourage employers and workers to take up this offer to help protect essential services and businesses.”

Oxford University researchers found the UK Government's most sensitive LFTs detected 83-90% of all infectious cases of COVID-19 and, with the UK investing more than £1.5bn in these test kits so far, Oxford’s Regius Professor of Medicine Sir John Bell underlined the benefit of these removing infectious people from high-risk environments: “They’ve found 25,000 cases just in healthcare, which may have prevented tens of thousands of cases of the disease.”

The World Nano Foundation (WNF) promotes healthcare technology and predicts that mass testing is central to future pandemic protection.

“Used alongside vaccines, hand-cleansing, and social distancing, these simple tests have been developed from colloidal gold nanoparticle research and are a vital component in the battle to defeat COVID-19, future variants or other viruses.

“Rapid community testing is simpler, faster, cheaper, ultimately more effective and mobilises everyone to help themselves and their relatives, friends, and colleagues – we can all play a part in keeping everyone safe.

“As West Africa reeled under the impact of Ebola (2014-16) the world watched with bated breath to see if the ‘beast’ would go global, but frequent mass rapid testing was deployed at community level multiple times over a few weeks stopping that terrible disease in its tracks.

“With the work that we do, we know that there are even more exciting technologies on the way that will be central to the world’s fight for pandemic protection and future healthcare.

“We have already seen the danger from not being on our guard against renewed viral threats. Spanish Flu struck in 1918 and ultimately killed up to 50 million people in four successive waves, the last two being most deadly because public health warnings were not adhered to.

“The UK Government’s foresight in being first to secure large stocks of rapid lateral flow antigen test supplies by Innova Medical (USA) and SureScreen Diagnostics (UK) may prove to have been a human and economic lifesaver.”

Other innovations include using similar nano technology developed by UC San Diego that turns a face mask a different colour when it detects the presence of COVID-19 in the air that you breathe, allowing everyone to self-monitor easily and simply.

This means that there will be a revolution in the healthcare industry over the next 12 months. Healthcare investment is expected to grow at a rate of nearly 50% a year towards a market set to be worth $1.333 trillion by 2027*. The acceleration highlights wide recognition that the world cannot afford the human and economic cost of another pandemic.

Image: Shutterstock - Mark Duransky