Biotech part of Fayette’s future
The light turned green in the biosensor, denoting there was no hazard endangering any of the several dozen people gathered around the device. But the material being tested was cornstarch – not anthrax toxin, ricin or any other pathogen deadly to humans.
On Friday, two companies demonstrated their proprietary handheld biosensor that can detect several specific toxins in under five minutes, something that is becoming vital in the fight against terrorism. The device will be manufactured in Fayette County.
QTL Biosystems and United First Responders (UFR) LLC have set up shop in one of the Fay-Penn Economic Development Council buildings in the University Technology Park off Route 119 north next to Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
QTL Biosystems, headquartered in Santa Fe, N.M., and a subsidiary of QTL Biodefense of Reigate, England, developed the device, which will be manufactured locally by United First Responders of Lemont Furnace.
While the pair of companies will employ nine people, that number is expected to grow to 13 by May and as many as 30 within a year, once production of the biosensor moves into full swing.
This is the first product for UFR, which will be the sensor’s sole manufacturer. The company was formed in May 2004 by Connellsville business owner Richard C. Oglevee and Thomas McCaffrey of Clinton, Md., a retired fire chief of Washington, D.C. Oglevee is also a longtime firefighter and hazmat specialist who is actively involved in Region 13, the state’s counter-terrorism task force covering 13 western and southwestern Pennsylvania counties.
“We have been working on this for three years,’ said Oglevee, UFR president. “Our goal was to develop a handheld detector. We began building the prototype in August and sent it to testing labs for evaluation. This unit is the fourth generation before we even get into production.”
Richard Troiano, QTL chief executive officer and a Vandergrift native, said the company expects sales of $6 million to $13 million in its first year.
“We will be turning out from 1,500 to 3,000 in our first year,’ Troiano said. However, that number should grow significantly. “We are being courted by three large defense contractors who want to distribute our product,’ he said.
Troiano explained that $14 million of private and public funds were invested in developing the biosensor. The UFR biosensor, Troiano said, “costs under $10,000 and is reusable,’ while its closest rival costs from $50,000 to $78,000
The heart of the biosensor is a cartridge that employs the latest technology to detect and identify specific toxins. It provides a “go’ or “no go’ signal to help personnel make onsite decisions. The biosensor is connected remotely to a handheld personal document assistant (PDA) that collects data from the cartridge for storage and later analysis.
While the biosensor can detect three pathogens at present (ricin, anthrax and staph), Troiano said the company plans to expand that list to about 20. “We will be adding botulism, cholera and small pox this year,’ he said. “That shows that it can also have uses in health care.’
Troiano said the biosensor is accurate enough to give only one-in-one million times a false positive or false negative reading.
“We hope this will establish a worldwide standard on emergency responders,’ he said.
U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Johnstown) said the orange plastic container, about the size of a child’s lunchbox, “is more than about jobs or new companies.
“Not only is the UFR/QTL partnership creating jobs for Fayette County residents, it’s manufacturing a product that, because of the biochemical threat we face today, has become near essential for first responders, hazmat personnel and the military,’ Murtha said.
“The faster they are able to accurately identify a substance, the faster they’ll be able to take the action necessary to save lives,’ he said.
“This started 15 years ago when there was the ricin attack in Japan (ricin is a poisonous protein found in the castor bean). We put $50 million into the National Guard budget to teach them how to detect and analyze potentially dangerous substances. The first detectors we had showed too many false positives. We needed something better.”
He spoke about an incident in October 2001 when a powder, later identified as anthrax, “shut Congress down. It was just a little bit of powder that was in an envelope in the post office. But it took several days to determine what it was. We are making great improvements to fight terrorist attacks. So this (biosensor) could be not only good for jobs in Fayette County but also real good for the security of this country,’ Murtha said.
He presented the first sensor to Roy Shipley, director of the Fayette County Emergency Management Agency.
“This will be an excellent tool to add to the other equipment we use,’ Shipley said. “This will not only be used in Fayette County but also region wide. We will train all our hazmat technicians in its use.”
The companies also are developing an air quality monitor that would continuously test for airborne pathogens.