Bio-Defense Research Group Introduces Bio-Terror Technology Designed to Neutralize Viruses, Bacteria and Spores

WASHINGTON -- Bio-Defense Research Group, Inc. (BDRGI), a biotechnology firm based in Maryland, announced today the availability of Path-Away, a technology designed to neutralize deadly airborne bio-terror agents such as anthrax and smallpox. Path-Away is effective with a wide range of airborne pathogens, and its use in healthcare facilities will dramatically reduce the spread of infections that contribute to 90,000 hospital deaths each year.

Path-Away integrates into air handling systems and can provide protection for public and private facilities, modes of transportation ranging from military transports to cruise ships, and even individuals wearing decontamination suits and other protective gear.

The technology originated at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., which granted an exclusive worldwide license for the technology to BDRGI.

"This technology is different from anything we've found in the world market," said John Bacon, APL technology transfer manager. "Every test we conducted using simulant bio-terror pathogens, including anthrax and smallpox- like substances, it significantly destroyed them, as it did with more common pathogens such as staph infections that are often found in health care facilities."

Dr. Preston McGee, CEO of BDRGI, offered two examples to illustrate the impact Path-Away will have.

"First, look at the Brentwood Post Office facility in Washington," McGee said. "Brentwood was closed for a year and cost more than $100 million dollars to decontaminate because anthrax from a few envelopes entered the HVAC system and spread throughout the building. Much of the damage could have been contained had Path-Away been installed at that facility. Second, 90,000 people die every year because they enter a hospital and acquire an airborne infection that has traveled from one area to another using the HVAC system. Path-Away can cut the number of deaths resulting from these infections, saving thousands of lives and billions of healthcare and insurance dollars."

"What we have is a technology that will save billions of dollars and thousands of lives every year," McGee said. "We've taken technology that originated at APL and developed Path-Away, a system that will provide unprecedented protection against bio-terrorism as well as the threat of infectious disease faced by anyone who enters a hospital."

BDRGI is communicating with several agencies and companies in need of the protection provided by Path-Away, including military, government, corporate and healthcare.

Bio-Defense Research Group, Inc., based in Upper Marlboro, Md., is a biotechnology firm that specializes in research, development and marketing of a wide range of technologies designed to protect and defend human life and health.

Source: Bio-Defense Research Group, Inc.