Is Nanotechnology the Next Asbestos? (PXN)

247wallst — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:53:37 +0000

Nanotechnology is one of those industries that has advocates lining up for it and against it. The theoretical possibilities are endless. These could be in micro-computing, arterial plaque attacks, tissue repair, cleaning surfaces, cancer fighting, and on and on and on.

But nanotechnology also has many critics, particularly those who are concerned that nano-bots or nano particles could be used against people. In a report published in advance from NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY, the new fear is that nanotechnology’s carbon nanotubes injected into mice showed similarities to asbestos.

The pilot study in a small number of mice shows that long multiwalled carbon nanotubes introduced into the abdominal cavity can cause asbestos-like pathogenic behavior. The results suggest the need for further research and caution before introducing nanotube products into the market.

Mesothelioma is a death sentence. If nanotech generates even the same fears, this technology may be crushed before even the simple applications can get off the ground It sounds like they need a nano-drug now, one to fight nanothelioma.

The nanotech ETF, the PowerShares Lux Nanotech (AMEX: PXN) was down 2% at $14.51, although it was on thin volume when the market itself was soft.

Jon C. Ogg
May 20, 2008

Nanogen Jumps on GSA Contract

247wallst — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 08:18:01 +0000

Nanogen, Inc. (NGEN-NASDAQ) is seeing shares up 25% pre-market after it announced this morning that it has obtained a United States Government Service Administration (GSA) Schedule contract for its NanoChip 400 microarray instrument and reagents. The contract enables Nanogen to be listed on an approved GSA Schedule and sell its NanoChip products directly to government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, military hospitals and Veteran’s Administration hospitals. Nanogen’s inclusion as a GSA Schedule Vendor allows government customers to obtain approved pricing and license terms from a pre-qualified vendor.

Government agencies typically have separate GSA and non-GSA budgets, and therefore inclusion as a GSA vendor allows Nanogen broader access to government customers’ budgets. This is actually a stock that was barely above the 52-week lows ($1.21 to $2.93 yearly trading range) and it has seen pre-market trading of more than 500,000 shares (close to full day of trading volume). The market cap on this name was only $91 million before this pop today.

Jon C. Ogg
April 4, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

24/7 Wall St. » Nanotech

Is Nanotechnology the Next Asbestos? (PXN)

Nanogen Jumps on GSA Contract