Team Sona has been on the road this month, taking part in a key lateral flow event in Europe and meeting new and existing customers on the west coast of the USA.
In Europe, Sona was in Amsterdam, Netherlands between May 14-16 for the BioDot Lateral Flow Workshop 2019, one of the highlights of the lateral flow calendar.
As well as attending to exhibit and present our products and services to the sector, we also sponsored the event and provided our gold spheres for the practical workshop demonstrations.
While this was the second time Sona had attended the annual event, it was the first time for Trevor Keel, our business development consultant for the UK and Europe.
He said: “It was great to see so many different companies in attendance, from enormous multi-nationals like GE Healthcare right down to smaller companies who are just starting out, and everything in between. It was also really interesting to meet academics who, while at the start of their career, have some interesting biologicals or some innovative ideas and who we can work with to develop the next generation of tests.”
Sona CEO Darren Rowles said: “We already have strong relationships with so many of the companies represented, including Opticron (now Chem Bio), Operon and Bond Digital Health, but we have had some great conversations with so many people here and we have been able to forge some exciting new relationships.”
Over the three-day event, Team Sona caught up with many of our existing partners and collaborators while making some new connections.
Trevor added: “The way our business plan operates, the way we want to collaborate, makes us a very attractive partner, so it was great to see so many delegates and vendors interested in what we have to offer.”
One of the big takeaways from the event was the changing attitudes towards collaboration from some of the main players in the sector.
Darren said: “Even traditional rivals are willing to have discussions to work out a way of working together for their mutual benefit. We were particularly pleased that Sona was mentioned in many of the presentations throughout the event. It’s fantastic that businesses who are already well established in this sector can appreciate the value we bring.”
While part of the team was in Amsterdam, our business development manager Anindita Gupta was more than five thousand miles away in San, Diego, California, meeting new and existing customers.
San Diego is one of the world’s major biotech hubs, with a particular focus on businesses in the diagnostics sector.
Anindita said: “It was great to learn that the customers of some of our existing clients are asking about and requesting to use our gold nanorods. They are being sought out for both single and multiplex lateral flow assays as well as to increase the sensitivity of existing tests for things like infectious diseases, drugs of abuse and cardiometabolic.”
Sona’s reputation as an exciting new business in the lateral flow market is gaining interest from some big names, who were keen to learn more about our unique gold nanorods.
She added: “Sona’s 650nm gold nanorods are highly in demand as they provide a strong blue colour on a lateral flow strip. They are seen as an excellent alternative to other blue coloured particles in the market, like latex beads, which often give a lot of non-specific binding, thus increasing the performance and reliability of the test.”
Anindita said there is a trend towards using blue particles in lateral flow tests as they produce a better visual signal.
Team Sona will be on the road throughout 2019, meeting new and existing customers across the world and attending key industry events including AACC 2019 in Anaheim, California in August, the Advanced Lateral Flow Course 2019 in San Diego California in October, and Medica 2019 in Dusseldorf, Germany in November.
If you want to learn more about any of our products or services, or would like to arrange a meeting, email our business development manager Anindita Gupta: anu@sonanano.com