BioNanomatrix Moves HQ and Nano-Scale Analysis Technology to San Diego

BioNanomatrix, a venture-backed molecular analysis startup founded in 2003 with technology licensed from Princeton University, says today it has established its new headquarters in San Diego.

The move follows the appointment of R. Erik Holmlin as BioNanomatrix CEO six months ago. Holmlin was previously the CEO at Carlsbad, CA-based GenVault, which was acquired by Pleasanton, CA-based IntegenX in February. But a BioNanomatrix spokesman tells me the shift also represents a strategic move for the company, which was previously based in Philadelphia.

With the presence of Carlsbad, CA-based Life Technologies (NASDAQ: [[ticker:LIFE]]) and San Diego-based Illumina (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ILMN]]) and Genoptix (now part of Novartis Molecular Diagnostics), the region aleady is home to some giants in molecular diagnostics and genome sequencing. Other specialized biomedical diagnostics companies based in San Diego, including Quidel (NASDAQ: [[ticker:QDEL]]) and startups like Celula, have drawn additional expertise to the cluster here.

In a statement from BioNanomatrix, Holmlin says, “Expanding our team here will accelerate commercialization of our innovative platform.” While a number of key employees are moving from Philadelphia to San Diego, Holmlin adds that the company’s East Coast office will remain “an important site for ongoing research and development” of its systems in the field and support for users.

The company also expanded its management team, naming Todd Dickinson as vice president of product development and Xing Yang as vice president of system integration.

As a preliminary step to the move, BioNanomatrix raised $23.3-million in a Series B round of equity financing in March. Domain Associates, based in Princeton, N.J., and San Diego, led the round and was joined by new investor Gund Investment Corp. and existing investors Battelle Ventures, Innovation Valley Partners, and KT Venture Group. Total funding since BioNanomatrix was founded is roughly $28.9 million. Previous investors include 21 Ventures and Ben Franklin Technology Partners.

Han Cao founded BioNanomatrix to commercialize the company’s core single-molecule nanoscale whole genome analysis technology, which he co-invented, and Hao continues to serve as the company’s chief scientific officer. The company says its technology can perform nano-scale, single-molecule analyses on minute biological samples that would be otherwise unattainable.

Author: Bruce V. Bigelow

In Memoriam: Our dear friend Bruce V. Bigelow passed away on June 29, 2018. He was the editor of Xconomy San Diego from 2008 to 2018. Read more about his life and work here. Bruce Bigelow joined Xconomy from the business desk of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was a member of the team of reporters who were awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for uncovering bribes paid to San Diego Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in exchange for special legislation earmarks. He also shared a 2006 award for enterprise reporting from the Society of Business Editors and Writers for “In Harm’s Way,” an article about the extraordinary casualty rate among employees working in Iraq for San Diego’s Titan Corp. He has written extensively about the 2002 corporate accounting scandal at software goliath Peregrine Systems. He also was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist and National Headline Award winner for “The Toymaker,” a 14-part chronicle of a San Diego start-up company. He takes special satisfaction, though, that the series was included in the library for nonfiction narrative journalism at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Bigelow graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1977 with a degree in English Literature and from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1979. Before joining the Union-Tribune in 1990, he worked for the Associated Press in Los Angeles and The Kansas City Times.