An Albuquerque biotechnology company recently received a $350,000 research grant to use for its DNA research, according to a news release.
Armonica Technologies has developed a DNA sequencing system, and the Small Business Innovation Research grant will support the company’s sequencing technology, according to the release.
Through its research, Armonica has developed proprietary technology for use in DNA sequencing research and for clinical applications, said Steve Brueck, Chief Science Officer of Armonica.
“Armonica's unique technology is label and amplification free, and provides the exciting capability to read the optical spectra, or 'spectral fingerprint,’ of individual nucleotides including any epigenetic modifications,” Brueck said in a statement.
The research itself leads to better precision medicine, he said, and it could allow for the tailoring of treatments for an individual based on their variability in genes, environment and lifestyle.
"To reach the goal of precision medicine requires genomic information," Brueck said. "And it requires more complete genomic information than we have today. We're trying to fill in that gap."
Brueck said the technology Armonica uses gives more accurate information for research purposes.
“Those are very difficult to read with today’s technology,” Brueck said. “Our technology offers the promise of being much more accurate and much more reliable.”
Armonica Technologies plans to partner with the University of New Mexico through Jeremy Edwards, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology. The partnership allows Armonica to use the university’s high-throughput DNA sequencing laboratory in the department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.
“Armonica continues to make significant improvements to the performance of our groundbreaking technology, and we are honored that the NIH has awarded us this grant in support of our product development goals,” Armonica CEO Victor Esch said in a statement referring to the grant from the National Institute of Health’s National Human Genome Research Institute.
In August 2017, Armonica received $1.5 million from the state’s $40 million Catalyst fund, according to previous Business First reporting. The fund is meant to help early-stage companies in New Mexico. The company is also part of Tramway Venture Partners and Cottonwood Technology Fund’s portfolios, two New Mexico capital venture firms.
