Photonics Center midwifes new method of DNA detection

By David J. Craig

With a synthetic molecule invented by Mosaic Technologies, medical researchers can identify pathogens such as hepatitis and HIV in blood samples with greater accuracy and in a fraction of the time the process took three years ago. But without the BU Photonics Center as a partner, the company's groundbreaking chemistry might never have made it to market.

Mosaic Technologies is the first company to announce its emergence from the Photonics Center's incubator program for high-tech start-ups. The medical test equipment firm, now based in Waltham, is off to a strong start. During its four-year partnership with the Photonics Center, Mosaic grew from 4 to 30 employees, secured more than $6 million in venture capital funding, and landed a distribution deal for its first product, a molecule called Acrydite.

"Our partnership with the Photonics Center provided us with access to laboratories, equipment, and support -- resources that are difficult and costly for a developing technology company to acquire on its own," says Michael E. Woehler, president and CEO. "It gave us a considerable advantage in developing our product prototypes."

Mosaic Technologies was founded in 1994 by Christopher Adams, a former senior technical associate at MIT, who along with fellow MIT researchers Stephen Kron and Chris Boles, invented a new way to screen DNA for mutations. They found that by creating a molecule that can adhere to a solid surface and serve as an anchor for other molecules, called oligonucleotides, that attract and bind to specific DNA mutations, many pathogens could be detected in blood samples simultaneously, as well as quicker and with less contamination than with current processes. A laser is used to examine the surface, making even a single strand of mutant DNA detectable.

Once Adams could prove that his concept worked, he raised $500,000 from private investors and was given incubator space at the BU Photonics Center, where he and his colleagues began working with faculty members. Combining the Photonics Center's engineering expertise with Mosaic's original idea for the molecule, the group made two prototypes. In early 1998, Mosaic began licensing Acrydite to research laboratories worldwide.

The company is now developing a diagnostic instrument that will allow medical practitioners to use Acrydite to test donated blood for 11 different forms of bacteria. The product, called Hybrigel, will have profound implications for the safety of the world's blood resources, says Adams, and should be on the market in 2001.

Mike Woehler, president and chief executive officer of Mosaic Technologies, pictured here at Mosaic's laboratory space at 1106 Commonwealth Ave., says that his company's partnership with the BU Photonics Center was integral to the development of its first product, the proprietary molecule Acrydite. Photo by Vernon Doucette

"Blood donations aren't tested for bacteria now because the process takes two days and the life of the blood platelets is at most five days," he says. "The new product would let the Acrydite chemistry be used to test the platelets for bacteria in much less time." Adams, who started Mosaic with $20,000 borrowed from a college friend, estimates that the market for screening blood has the potential for $100 million in annual revenue.

"Right now, there is no competition in that market, so the opportunity it represents for us is incredible," he says. The market for DNA screening technology in general is competitive, however. In fact, Adams believes that had it not been for Mosaic's partnership with the Photonics Center, another company likely would have come up with a product similar to Acrydite first.

"Our growth would have been seriously retarded," he says. "There are at least a dozen companies trying to develop similar technology."

The aim of the Photonics Center, launched by Boston University in 1994, is to enter partnerships with investors and industrial start-ups, turning emerging high-tech concepts, particularly those employing laser and fiber-optic technology, into commercial products. There are now seven such companies in the center's incubator, with access to its $80 million facility, including laboratories, as well as to BU faculty. As part of its partnership with Mosaic, BU has an undisclosed equity share in the company.

"It's wonderful to see Mosaic move forward from the prototyping stage to having an actual product going into clinical trials," says Shawn Burke, deputy director of the Photonics Center. "This is external validation that not only is there a niche for its product, but that the market believes in the company's ability to execute the idea.

"That's one of the ways the center helps companies," Burke continues. "We reduce the business risks associated with the execution of the development program. And that gives a big boost to the company in attracting investors."

The Photonics Center also helped Mosaic in an unexpected way: by personally introducing its staff to potential business associates. Tom Vogel, a member of the center's enterprise advisory board, was so impressed by the company's potential that he became its president and CEO, serving from 1996 to 1999.

Further information about the Photonics Center and its partners is available at http://www.bu.edu/photonics.