Sano

What Sano does

Sano Diagnostics LLC is a development-stage medical diagnostics company developing a low-cost, point-of-care platform that detects gelatinase/MMP-HNE inflammatory protease markers across multiple disease states. Its core technology — a metallic colloidal suspension in which gelatin-coated particles change color (pink to purple to blue to gray) on exposure to target proteases — is configured into disposable lateral-flow strip or solution-based devices that yield both visual colorimetric and quantitative readouts within five minutes, applicable to wound fluid, synovial fluid, urine, saliva, and tears. The platform is being targeted at chronic wounds, osteoarthritis in humans and animals, several forms of cancer, periodontal/gum disease, and ocular rosacea; the CSO holds multiple issued patents and the company has filed additional patents covering the chemistry and device formats.

The business model is asset-light and partner-centric: rather than building a direct sales force, Sano plans to license or co-develop each disease-state application with established commercial leaders, generating revenue through development partnerships and licensing royalties once products are commercialized by partners. The company is pre-revenue and has been funded predominantly by non-dilutive capital — four SBIR Phase I grants and contracts from NIH and DoD totaling $250,000 and a roughly $50,000 MassChallenge-related raise — rather than a priced equity round. Headquartered in Wellesley Heights, MA, with 1-10 employees, the leadership team combines diagnostics IP (Dan Kerschensteiner, inventor of the EPT3 home pregnancy test and BANA periodontitis test), commercial scaling experience (Barry Wolfenson, architect of Derma Sciences' wound-care division that grew from roughly $2M to $50M before its $204M acquisition by Integra Life Sciences), and strategic/financial advisory (Jeff Farmer, McKinsey and prior operating roles). The most material commercial milestone to date is an October 2017 Evaluation and Development Agreement with a major global veterinary health company to validate the platform for animal osteoarthritis detection.

Name

Sano

Legal name

Sano Diagnostics LLC

Website

https://sanodx.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sano Diagnostics is a development-stage diagnostics company building a disposable point-of-care platform that detects MMP-HNE gelatinase inflammatory markers across chronic wounds, osteoarthritis, cancer, gum disease, and ocular rosacea for global healthcare and veterinary partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Point-of-Care Diagnostics

NAICS

In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing (325413), Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing (3391)

SIC

In Vitro & In Vivo Diagnostic Substances (2835), Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus (3841)

akta.pro primary industry

SaMD – Digital Biomarkers & Algorithmic Endpoints (HLACANAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Risk Stratification, Early Warning Scores & Predictive Analytics (HLACAGAE), SaMD – Monitoring, Triage & Risk Stratification Software (HLACANAE)

Keywords

• Point-of-care diagnostics
• Inflammation detection
• Chronic wound diagnostics
• Protease biomarker testing
• Lateral flow devices

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellesley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Licensing and Partnership Model: As a development-stage company, Sano Diagnostics aims to partner with commercial leaders in each targeted disease state to bring products to market. Revenue is expected to come through licensing agreements, development partnerships, and eventual product commercialization through partners.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Sano Diagnostics is developing a low-cost, point-of-care diagnostic platform that uses proprietary metallic colloidal suspension chemistry to detect inflammatory protease markers (MMP-HNE/gelatinases) in bodily fluids. The disposable device delivers both visual colorimetric and quantitative results within 5 minutes and is being positioned for early detection and intervention across chronic wounds, osteoarthritis, cancer, gum disease, and ocular rosacea.

Product overview

SANO Diagnostics is developing a range of disposable, cost-effective point-of-care diagnostics based on metallic colloidal suspension technology that detects gelatinase inflammatory markers. The core product offering is a diagnostic device that provides both colorimetric and quantitative results within 5 minutes. The technology platform targets multiple disease states including chronic wounds, osteoarthritis (in both humans and animals), several forms of cancer, gum disease, and ocular rosacea. As a development-stage company, SANO aims to partner with commercial leaders in each targeted disease state to bring its products to market.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SANO Point-of-Care Diagnostic Device Disposable, cost-effective point-of-care diagnostic device that detects early onset of inflammation via metallic colloidal suspension technology. It identifies MMP-HNE/gelatinase protease markers in wound fluid, synovial fluid, urine, saliva, and tears, delivering colorimetric and quantitative results within 5 minutes using a lateral flow strip or solution format. The device is intended to be adapted for chronic wound care, osteoarthritis (human and animal), cancer, gum disease, and ocular rosacea screening applications through licensing and co-development partnerships.

Quantifiable outcome

• Results delivered within 5 minutes of introducing bodily fluid
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Major Global Veterinary Health CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 October 2017Sano Diagnostics announced an Evaluation and Development Agreement with a Major Global Veterinary Health Company for its Point-Of-Care Diagnostic Technology. This partnership focuses on validating the technology for veterinary applications, specifically targeting osteoarthritis detection in animals.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• MolecuLight: Commercial-stage point-of-care wound diagnostic (fluorescence imaging for bacterial load). Direct overlap with Sano's primary chronic wound care use case — both sell PoC adjunct diagnostics targeting the same clinician buyers.
• Trinity Biotech: Clinical diagnostics developer with PoC bench-top and lateral-flow products across infectious disease, diabetes, and clinical chemistry. Directly comparable to Sano in distribution model (OEM/partner channel) and indication breadth.
• Access Bio: Lateral-flow rapid diagnostic test manufacturer with a broad infectious-disease and inflammation portfolio. Comparable to Sano in mechanism (lateral flow) and GTM breadth across multiple indications.
• Princeton BioMeditech Corporation: Rapid immunochromatographic PoC test developer (drugs-of-abuse, pregnancy, infectious disease, cardiac). Closely comparable to Sano in using lateral-flow colorimetric PoC chemistry for multi-indication testing.
• Bühlmann Laboratories: Switzerland-based specialty diagnostics company built around inflammation biomarkers (e.g., fecal calprotectin). Comparable to Sano as a focused inflammation-biomarker PoC diagnostics developer expanding across clinical indications.
• QuidelOrtho: Major rapid lateral-flow and PoC diagnostics manufacturer (Sofia platform, Triage). Highly comparable to Sano as a developer of rapid, disposable, equipment-light PoC assays used across multiple clinical indications.

Broad incumbents

• Zoetis: World's largest animal health company with growing companion-animal diagnostics business (Vetscan, reference labs). Comparable to Sano as the most likely partner in the announced veterinary collaboration targeting osteoarthritis in animals.
• IDEXX Laboratories: Companion-animal diagnostics leader with rapid in-clinic analyzers (Catalyst, ProCyte). Comparable to Sano as a major counterparty for veterinary PoC diagnostic partnerships and as a benchmark for commercial-scale animal-health economics.
• Abbott Point of Care: Division of Abbott operating the i-STAT and other rapid PoC platforms. Comparable as a large incumbent offering rapid PoC diagnostics across multiple acute-care indications, against which Sano would compete for hospital and clinic adoption.

Emerging players

• Exact Sciences: Cancer screening diagnostics developer (Cologuard, Oncotype). Comparable to Sano in leveraging a non-invasive biomarker assay for early cancer detection, though at far greater scale and with central-lab rather than PoC delivery.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sano