NanoEnTek Eager to Tackle U.S. Market

By Zoe Francis, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

NanoEnTek plans to take the United States diagnostic market by storm with its innovative biomedical and life science devices for medical facilities and research labs.

The company's FREND system offers doctors a cutting-edge tool for assisting in the diagnosis of prostate cancer and thyroid function. The compact system is appealing to doctors who have limited office space but would like to offer in office testing as a convenience for their patients.

"This is a new product for the U.S. diagnostic market, said Jimmy Chen, senior manager of customer service. The company is marketing the FREND immunoassay system that has been approved by the FDA for use in doctors' offices.

"Our instruments are much smaller, faster and more accurate than our competitors' products," he boasted. "Our instrument only takes 3 minutes, so the physician can get results while the patient is in their office. Our competitor's instrument can take as long as one hour to give a result."

The FREND system also does not need the routine maintenance other systems require, he noted.

NanoEnTek also has the ADAM analytical device for counting the number of residual white blood cells (rWBC). The device is used mainly at blood banks, to guarantee the quality of blood used in transfusions.

"All blood banks can use it," Chen said. "The Central California Blood Center was manually counting the blood cells before they got our device."

The company also offers devices for cell counting needed mainly at research facilities and labs.

The JuLI cell monitoring system combines a fluorescence microscope, camera and onboard computer to provide real-time cell monitoring. The device can monitor cells for 24 hours and provide a movie of what takes place during that time.

"It can be used by a pharmaceutical company that wants to find out how effectively a medicine works," Chen said. "You can use this to monitor it and show what time and when the medicine kicked in to kill the bacteria."

NanoEnTek was founded in Seoul, Korea, in 2000 by 10 scientists working in the lab of Seoul National University. The company, originally named Digital-Bio, was renamed NanoEnTek in 2006 and now has more than 90 employees.

The company opened its U.S. office in Hacienda in February 2013.

"We mainly are a sales and distribution center for the whole country," Chen said. "Everything is made in Korea. We ship all of our products to the U.S. from this location."

The company also has seven territory managers through the United States and a tech support office in Boston.

"NanoEnTek aims to overtake the market leader in biotechnology, nanotechnology and information technology field," according to the company's website.

For more information about NanoEnTek and its innovative products, visit nanoentek.com.

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