Arrowhead Research Corp. said Monday that it has acquired the name and assets of C Sixty Inc. and has formed a new subsidiary focused on developing treatments for Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s.

C Sixty develops and has nanotechnology patents based on buckministerfullerenes, or buckyballs, hollow and spherical structures reminiscent of the geodesic domes designed by architect Buckminster Fuller. C Sixty also has several patents regarding the technology used in creating the structures, Arrowhead said.

The latest acquisition is Arrowhead’s third focused on nanomedicine. Arrowhead recently acquired two other companies specializing in developing and commercializing nanotherapeutics. Financial terms of the deal were not released.

“The future of medicine lies in targeted delivery of therapeutics through nanotechnology,” said R. Bruce Stewart, Arrowhead’s chairman in a statement. “Our experience and expertise in this area makes C Sixty a great strategic complement to our other majority owned subsidiaries.”

Buckyballs are a form of nanotubes, which are super small, ultra strong carbon structures used in everything from electronics to aircraft. Roughly one nanometer in diameter, the tiny hollow structures are composed of 60 carbon atoms and look like tiny soccer balls, Arrowhead said.

Shares in Arrowhead were up 4 cents to $4.64 in afternoon trading Monday on the Nasdaq.