Nanocrine: Enhancing Research Capabilities of CROs
Strategic Ventures Impact Insights: September 2025 (Volume 3, Number 8)
Nanocrine: Enhancing Research Capabilities of CROs
What’s a CRO - and what do they actually do?
A contract research organization (CRO) is an independent partner that can take on one or more of a drug sponsor’s responsibilities (everything from protocol design and site monitoring to data analysis and preparing FDA submissions), so companies don’t need to build that infrastructure in-house. That definition is codified in U.S. regulations (21 CFR 312.3) and echoed in practical guides for innovators, which note CRO capabilities that span nonclinical, clinical, regulatory, data, and quality functions (see footnotes 1 and 2).
Why CROs matter: the development engine behind new medicines
CROs compress timelines, reduce fixed costs, and open access to specialized expertise and global trial networks - benefits that are especially vital for startups and small biopharma. Industry data show CROs conduct the vast majority of clinical trials worldwide, and the market is still expanding (and projected to approach ~$63B by 2030), underscoring how central outsourced R&D has become to modern drug discovery and development. In short, CROs are the commercialization engine that delivers R&D as a service at scale to the pharmaceutical industry (see footnotes 2, 3, and 4).
Why Nanocrine is crucial for CROs
Nanocrine’s plasmonic chip makes previously invisible live-cell communication visible in real time using standard microscopes - capturing single messenger-molecule and exosome events without labels, in sterile, single-use, multiplexed formats. That enables CROs to offer faster, mechanism-rich assays for phenotypic screening, tumor microenvironment and metastasis signaling, and therapeutic MoA studies, helping sponsors make earlier go/no-go decisions with higher biological fidelity. The underlying approach has been peer-reviewed (single-exosome nanoplasmonic detection), and Nanocrine reported its first commercial chip sales to NIH in 1Q 2025, signaling readiness for CRO deployment across preclinical and translational programs (see footnotes 5 and 6).
For further information on Nanocrine or to arrange a meeting with Nanocrine’s co-founder and Chief Science Officer, Dr. Patrick Calhoun, please contact SV Managing Director, Tony Coretto.Sources:
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-312/subpart-A/section-312.3?utm_source=chatgpt.com "21 CFR 312.3 -- Definitions and interpretations."
https://seed.nih.gov/sites/default/files/2024-03/Contract-Research-Organizations-Intro.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com "An Innovator's Guide to Choosing a CRO"
https://www.acrohealth.org/value-of-clinical-research-organizations/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "The Value of Clinical Research and Technology ..."
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/cro/cro-and-clinical-trial-markets-set-growth-2030-especially-asia-pacific-reports?utm_source=chatgpt.com "CRO and clinical trial markets set for growth by 2030: reports"
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6108516/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Nanoplasmonic pillars engineered for single exosome ..."
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0202773&utm_source=chatgpt.com "Nanoplasmonic pillars engineered for single exosome detection"
Meet the President Behind One of Today’s Most Promising Biotech Startups: Patrick Calhoun
Patrick Calhoun, PhD, is the President and Chief Science Officer of Nanocrine, a biotechnology company changing the way we understand how human cells communicate with one another. With a research background in intercellular signaling and nanobiotechnology, Patrick has dedicated his career to advancing technologies that reveal the hidden dynamics of disease.
At Nanocrine, Patrick is leading the development of a light microscope-based technology platform that can detect cell-secreted molecules with spatial resolution – essentially gaining insight into the details that bulk assays miss. Importantly, “seeing” molecules outside of living cells using a light microscope has never previously been possible and this advancement opens the door for new strategies into the prevention and treatment of disease.
Prior to his career in biotech, Patrick served as a US Army infantryman in Iraq and Afghanistan – an experience that shaped his mission-driven mindset. Today, he brings that same focus to building a company rooted in scientific rigor and collaboration to create technologies that move medicine forward and expand what’s possible in human health.
Please contact Mitchell Hauser or Tony Coretto for more information or to arrange a meeting with Patrick Calhoun, Nanocrine's President and CSO.
Advanced Autonomous Robots for Hazardous Applications
Copperstone Technologies is a robotics company developing autonomous solutions for hazardous site investigation, delivering mission-critical data to industrial clients operating in extreme environments. Its flagship product line, HELIX, consists of robots designed to navigate mine tailings, wastewater lagoons, and other dangerous or inaccessible sites—offering a safer, more accurate, and cost-effective alternative to traditional methods.
Recent updates include:
Due to strong customer demand, Copperstone Technologies is building a next generation dust suppression payload for the mine tailings pond industry. This precision application will suppress dust by applying environmentally friendly fluid at a higher efficiency and much lower cost than standard application systems
Copperstone is working with a local partner to conduct search and recovery operations this fall and spring, another new market for their existing products
Please contact Mitchell Hauser or Tony Coretto for more information or to arrange a meeting with Jamie Yuen, Copperstone's Founder.
ZS2 Enters Partnership with One of The World's Largest Building Products Companies
ZS2 Technologies is revolutionizing construction with advanced, resilient magnesium cement technology providing the industry with high-performance, prefabricated building materials designed for superior strength and fire retardance.
Recent updates include:
ZS2 recently released dramatic before-and-after footage showing what fire-resilient construction looks like in practice. Earlier this summer, a wildfire swept through Split Lake, Manitoba, directly into the path of a nearly completed remote housing facility. Despite scorched forest on all sides, the structure stood intact — no ignition, no collapse, no blackened sheathing. For more information, please click here. For the video, please click here.
ZS2 has entered into an agreement with one of the world's largest building products company for joint development and collaboration and has entered discussions with two other multi-national building material companies regarding testing, certification, product integration and financial partnership
ZS2 will be showcasing their participation in a very important project, one of their largest projects to date to rebuild three-story residential buildings destroyed by wildfire near Sunwapta Falls in Jasper National Park
Please contact Mitchell Hauser or Tony Coretto for further information or to arrange a meeting with Scott Jenkins, ZS2's CEO.
