Phoenix Business Journal -- BioVigilant Systems Inc. is in the running for a U.S. Department of Defense deal. The government is testing the Tucson company’s biothreat monitor, along with similar products from a handful of other companies, at the Edgewood Testing Ground in Maryland. The Defense Department will determine from these tests which trigger detectors will be used in the next generation of bioagent detection and identification systems, said Dewey Manzer, CEO and co-founder of BioVigilant.
In testing since 2005
His product -- about the size of a breadbox with a monitor -- has gone through a series of tests since 2005 and is one of the finalists in this competition. If it detects large numbers of bacteria in the air, the monitor sends a warning signal that certain actions need to be taken.
“We don’t identify if it’s anthrax,” he said. “We identify there is a suspicious occurrence. In nature, you don’t have large concentrations of bacteria in the air. That’s why we’re called a trigger detector -- we trigger corrective actions to be taken.”
For example, if the monitor detected a sudden accumulation of particles in the air, it would sound an alarm and tell the room’s occupants to shut the air vents to prevent it from spreading to other rooms.
“The government has all kinds of stringent rules about what actions have to be taken or can be taken, based on levels of testing to identify the bioagents,” Manzer said. For example, it might order a building evacuation or shut down the air conditioning system, he said.
Once the federal government finishes its testing, the chosen trigger detectors will be put on a list of qualified products for use by aerospace and defense companies.
“Our customer will be one of those systems integrators,” Manzer said, such as General Dynamics Corp.
Marketing to private industry
Manzer is marketing the same technology to the pharmaceutical industry, but with different software.
“Pharmaceutical people have a big problem in that they don’t know when there is bacteria in the air in their pharmaceutical cleanroom until they run a sample that is cultured to grow bacteria,” Manzer said. “They don’t know for roughly a week whether there was bacteria in the air when they were filling bottles of an important drug. If there were any live bacteria in that drug injected into the human body, it could be fatal for a person getting the drug.”
His monitor can detect the presence of bacteria in the air instantly, allowing a pharmaceutical manufacturer to stop production immediately. So far, BioVigilant has sold about 20 instruments for $85,000 each to pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly and Co. and Amgen Inc.
“It’s just the beginning of a big deployment, because every pharmaceutical company that makes an injectable drug will want to use this technology in the future,” Manzer said.
He envisions even more unit sales when the Defense Department is ready for procurement, estimating the government will buy about 7,000 units.
“Sooner or later, it will be an interesting business,” he said.
BioVigilant has 18 full-time and three part-time employees. The company has raised $12 million in venture capital since its inception six years ago, with
$2 million more coming in later this year.
“In terms of there being an active defense protecting people in the U.S., not much has been done yet, but there are efforts under way to produce new systems that would be effective,” he said. “They probably will not be deployed by the military for another couple of years, and then they will begin to be deployed by industry, such as large banks. This also will happen within the next couple of years.
“The private industry will begin to be concerned about this as well,” he added.
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BioVigilant Systems Inc.: www.biovigilant.com
