{"id":331,"date":"2018-03-26T16:47:08","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T21:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/m2d2\/?p=331"},"modified":"2018-03-26T17:56:24","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T22:56:24","slug":"meet-an-m2d2-200k-finalist-advanced-silicon-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uml.edu\/m2d2\/2018\/03\/26\/meet-an-m2d2-200k-finalist-advanced-silicon-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet an M2D2 $200K Finalist: Advanced Silicon Group"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Advanced

ASG co-founders Marcie Black and Bill Rever<\/p><\/div>\n

Ad<\/span><\/span>vanced Silicon Group<\/span><\/span>\u00a0(ASG) is<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>one of 20\u00a0<\/span><\/span>medtech<\/span><\/span>\u00a0startups chosen as finalists in the 7th annual M2D2 $200K Challenge.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>CEO Marcie Black told us the story behind their\u00a0<\/span><\/span>innovation and shared their vision for its future.<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What is the innovation you\u2019ve entered in the M2D2 $200K Challenge?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

ASG is enabling drug developers to measure the concentration of biomarkers in patients\u2019 blood, giving an early indicator in clinical trials.<\/p>\n

What inspired you to develop your\u00a0<\/i><\/b>device?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We learned about the amazing promise in therapeutics including personalized medicine, targeted treatment for cancer, and immunotherapy.\u00a0However, while many types of therapies have made significant progress, the diagnostics to compliment these therapies\u00a0were\u00a0too expensive, not sensitive enough, or too slow to really\u00a0help\u00a0large portions of the population.\u00a0While ASG\u2019s technology was originally developed for solar cells, we realized this same technology could also be used to make low-cost and highly sensitive bio-detectors. Our work to understand the market for therapeutic diagnostics led us to seeing the very expensive and inefficient process of drug discovery. We were thus inspired to use our technology to accelerate the screening process, eliminating ineffective drugs from further evaluation at an earlier stage in the process.<\/p>\n

What are the most significant barriers you\u2019ve faced and overcome?\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We have a platform technology to sensitively measure the concentration of proteins and\/or DNA in small sample volumes.\u00a0One of our largest challenges was in finding the best market for our sensor. Everyone will take a sensor that is more sensitive, but we wanted to find a market where we are solving a real pain point\u00a0and for which we could capture some of the value we bring to the market.<\/p>\n

Can you share a \u201cEureka!\u201d moment\u2014a breakthrough in the development of your\u00a0<\/i><\/b>idea?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\"Click<\/a>Others are using nanowires for\u00a0biosensing, but the way they contact the nanowires is expensive and has a low throughput, making it unlikely that those nanowire sensors will ever be made in mass production.\u00a0 Our\u00a0“A-Ha!”\u00a0moment\u00a0was when we realized that we don\u2019t have to electrically contact both sides of the nanowire to be able to tell what is happening on the wire\u2019s surface. Instead, we make the nanowires so that they are vertically aligned and are electrically contacted with each other.\u00a0This device design allows us to put millions of nanowires per sensor instead of the 5\u00a0to\u00a010 nanowires used in the other designs.<\/p>\n

If you win, what\u2019s next?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We are partnering with CRLs and biopharma companies to design a single test that measures\u00a0all of\u00a0the relevant biomarkers. We will then need to quantify the sensitivity and specificity for each of the relevant biomarkers.<\/p>\n

Learn more at\u00a0<\/b>www.advancedsilicongroup<\/b>.com<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

You\u2019re invited to meet ALL the finalists in person at the two upcoming events that will conclude the Challenge:<\/b><\/p>\n