Precision NanoSystems Joins Danaher’s Life Sciences Platform

By Brent MacDonald – Principal @ Rising Tide VC

Precision NanoSystems (PNI) is a global leader in technologies and solutions for the development of genetic medicines, including mRNA vaccines and therapeutics. Danaher Corporation is best known for producing technology to develop and manufacture genetics medicines that deliver RNA or DNA directly into cells to treat disease at its molecular root cause.

The basic premise of personalized medicine is every person has a unique variation of the human genome and modern advances in personalized medicine rely on technology that confirms a patient’s fundamental biology, DNA, RNA, or protein, which ultimately leads to confirming disease.

“PNI has advanced a number of exciting innovations and we’re thrilled to welcome this talented team. The work done so far by the PNI team will also enable our customers at Cytiva and Pall to take a huge step forward in advancing their science to improve the lives of patients.”

Emmanuel Ligner, Danaher Group Executive

Precision NanoSystems  recently announced it has been acquired by Danaher Corporation. PNI will join Danaher’s Life Sciences platform and will be complementary to other businesses in the platform, including Cytiva and Pall.

“The acquisition allows us to bring together complementary products and services to better serve our drug development partners and clients, expand our global reach, grow here in Vancouver, and enable more drugs to be developed faster,” said PNI Co-founder & CEO Dr. James Taylor, who will continue to lead the company as a subsidiary under Danaher’s Life Sciences Division.

Last fall, the government of Canada earmarked $18 million for PNI to pursue its own COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to enter Phase 1 of clinical trials this summer. Plans for PNI’s $50M biomanufacturing facility in Metro Vancouver are underway after the federal government revealed in February it was earmarking $25 million for the endeavor as part of a bid to shore-up the country’s own domestic vaccine manufacturing capacity. PNI is maintaining these obligations and is now able to attract a fantastic partner to be a part of that as well.

“Personalized medicine has the potential to change the way we think about, identify, and manage health problems”, says Dr. Ossama Hassanein, Chairman of Rising Tide. “Since our initial investment in September 2015, PNI has significantly expanded its product suite, expanded its customer base, and grown its revenue.” Today, the Company provides its technology to over 200 leading pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, and academic institutions in over 20 countries worldwide.