NanoSight, leading manufacturers of unique nanoparticle characterization technology, are pleased to announce that the company has been selected to receive the Queen's Award for Enterprise - Innovation in 2013.

Following on from their 2012 Queen's Award for Enterprise for International Trade, NanoSight is pleased to announce further recognition for their market-leading nanoparticle characterization technology. NanoSight was founded in 2004 by Dr Bob Carr and John Knowles after Carr discovered a technology which allows particles, so small they were below the resolution limit of normal optical microscopes, to be visualized, sized and counted in less than a minute for a fraction of the cost of an electron microscope.

Since 2005, NanoSight has grown sales by more than 60 per cent annually, year on year, and now employs 47 people worldwide. The firm sells its products all over the world, with around 90 per cent of its sales outside the UK. The most significant growth is in pharmaceuticals and life sciences, where budgets have remained largely unaffected by the global financial condition. There are now more than 600 NanoSight instruments in use worldwide and this number continues to grow as the firm's products are cited almost daily in fresh academic papers, a list which now totals well over 700.

Speaking about the importance of this award, Dr Carr said "Winning this award is further recognition of our Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) technique as an outstanding technology to meet the needs of the burgeoning nanomaterials sector. It is reward to our team at Salisbury who continue to innovate both hardware and software improvements to meet the challenging demands of our users."

Looking forward, the company sees sustained growth in the coming years. Their NTA technology has become increasingly important in the characterization of nanomaterials. With discussions continuing about a definition for nanomaterials in both Europe and the USA, it appears that many companies will be required to measure the number and size of the nano-scale particles in their products. Underscoring the importance of these activities, NanoSight CEO, Jeremy Warren, says "With NTA's ability to handle this challenge measuring particles in the 10nm to 1000nm range, NanoSight's future growth prospects are very positive."

To find out about the company and to learn more about particle characterization using NanoSight's unique Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis solutions, visit www.nanosight.com and register to receive the next issue of NanoTrail, the company's electronic newsletter.

Attachment

Mrs Sarah Troughton, Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire, presenting NanoSight CTO, Bob Carr, with the Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2012

For a high resolution copy of the image, either right click to download or contact Jezz Leckenby at Talking Science.

About NanoSight:

NanoSight delivers the world's most versatile and proven multi-parameter nanoparticle analysis in a single instrument.

NanoSight's "Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis" (NTA) detects and visualizes populations of nanoparticles in liquids down to 10 nm, dependent on material, and measures the size of each particle from direct observations of diffusion. Additionally, NanoSight measures concentration and a fluorescence mode differentiates suitably-labelled particles within complex background suspensions. Zeta potential measurements are similarly particle-specific. It is this particle-by-particle methodology that takes NTA beyond traditional light scattering and other ensemble techniques in providing high-resolution particle size distributions and validates data with information-rich video files of the particles moving under Brownian motion.

This simultaneous multiparameter characterization matches the demands of complex biological systems, hence its wide application in development of drug delivery systems, of viral vaccines, and in nanotoxicology. This real-time data gives insight into the kinetics of protein aggregation and other time-dependent phenomena in a qualitative and quantitative manner. NanoSight has a growing role in biodiagnostics, being proven in detection and speciation of nanovesicles (exosomes) and microvesicles.

NanoSight has installed nearly 600 systems worldwide with users including BASF, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Proctor and Gamble, Roche and Unilever together with the most eminent universities and research institutes. NanoSight's technology is validated by 700+ third party papers citing NanoSight results. NanoSight's leadership position in nanoparticle characterization is consolidated further with publication of an ASTM International standard, ASTM E2834, which describes the NTA methodology for detection and analysis of nanoparticles. For more information, visit www.nanosight.com.

For further information:
Please contact NanoSight direct or their marketing agency, Talking Science:
NanoSight Limited
Minton Park
London Road
Amesbury SP4 7RT UK
T +44(0)1980 676060
F +44(0)1980 624703
www.nanosight.com
sarah.newell@nanosight.com