December 12, 2017
Prince William County, VA – December 12, 2017 – Ceres Nanosciences (Ceres) is pleased to announce its recent expansion in Prince William County, Virginia. Following a successful fundraising round in 2017, Ceres has rapidly expanded both its staff and its facilities to accommodate the growing demand for the novel Nanotrap® particle platform across the life sciences industry. The Nanotrap® particle provides enhanced sample processing capabilities to new and existing diagnostic tests for some of the most challenging diseases and conditions, such as Lyme disease, respiratory diseases, emerging infectious diseases and cancer detection, as well as for improved health and wellness monitoring.
As part of this expansion, Ceres is graduating from the Prince William Science Accelerator and moving into 9,100 square feet of renovated commercial wet lab and office space at 9460 Innovation Drive, Manassas, Virginia. This space is being configured to meet the requirements for commercial-scale production of Nanotrap® particles within a quality-controlled manufacturing facility. Additionally, Ceres is outfitting a portion of the space to house one or more life-science industry collaborators with the goal of attracting more emerging biotechnology companies into the growing life science community at Innovation Park in Prince William County.
“This marks a major milestone for Ceres,” noted Ceres’ CEO, Ross Dunlap. “With over 20 peer-reviewed publications and 14 issued patents we have been very successful in validating our technology’s performance through extensive research and development work at the Prince William Science Accelerator. Now we’re moving into a commercial-scale production facility that will allow us to be a solutions supplier to global diagnostic companies and major clinical reference labs.”
Ceres’ new lab space is strategically located in the heart of Innovation Park, in Prince William County, directly adjacent to George Mason University’s (Mason) Science and Technology Campus and many other biotechnology companies and collaborators. “I am extremely pleased that the public private partnership with Ceres Nanosciences has provided such promising results so quickly. These breakthroughs are critical to the health and wellbeing of many, but also showcase Innovation Park as a leader in life science research,” said County Supervisor Jeannine Lawson.
Ceres applied for and was a recipient of a $50,000 Economic Development Opportunity Fund (EDOF) grant to assist in the expansion of commercial wet lab space in Prince William County. “This is a great story of an entrepreneurial team working persistently to build world class technology and facilities in Prince William County,” said County Chairman Corey Stewart.
About Ceres Nanosciences, Inc.
Ceres Nanosciences is a privately held company, located in Prince William County, Virginia, focused on the development of research and diagnostic products using its unique and proprietary Nanotrap® particle technology. The Nanotrap® particle technology provides powerful biomarker capture and biofluid sample processing capabilities for a wide array of diagnostic applications and sample handling needs. The Nanotrap® particle technology was invented at George Mason University and developed under funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). With support from the NIH, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, Ceres is focused on incorporating this technology into a range of innovative diagnostic products. Learn more at www.ceresnano.com
Press Contact:
Ross M. Dunlap
Ceres Nanosciences, Inc
1.800.615.0418 ext. 202
About the Prince William Science Accelerator
Located in the heart of Prince William County’s Science and Technology hub at Innovation Park, the Prince William Science Accelerator is a premier life sciences incubation facility, which features 9 fully built out, commercially available wet labs – the only commercially available wet lab space in Northern Virginia. Competitive lease rates, flexible terms, the availability of location incentives as well as a full complement of amenities are just some of the reasons why the Science Accelerator is an ideal option particularly for small and growing life sciences companies.