Spokane Biotech firm outfits Ireland’s military- GenPrime produces kits that identify dangerous microbes

Spokane-based GenPrime http://www.genprime.com/ has sold 14 bioterrorism detection kits to the government of Ireland.

The Prime Alert kits will be the first of a larger order for the Irish Defense Forces, said a company spokesman.

Tom Sowa
Staff writer Spokesman Review

"This is our first international sale (of Prime Alert) and our first major military sale of the product," said Buck Somes, GenPrime vice president of sales and marketing.

Each kit retails for $7,500. GenPrime, a privately held biotech firm based in downtown Spokane, developed the kits shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. They work by using chemical fluorescence to determine if suspicious powders or compounds contain dangerous microbes such as anthrax.

Prime Alert kits cannot identify which of 25 dangerous microbes may be present. Somes said numerous other systems are available to help identify such dangerous substances.

Since Prime Alert does one thing very well — detecting dangerous substances in less than 15 minutes, many agencies have said they see its chief value as a rapid tool to assess a bioterrorism threat.

"Many first responders don’t want a system that identifies the substance," Somes said. "They want fast detection if it’s something dangerous."

Identification and decontamination become secondary issues in such cases, Somes said.

Somes said a number of U.S. agencies have already ordered Prime Alert. Georgia officials are sending kits to first-response teams across that state.

Fairchild Air Force Base has also ordered Prime Alert, Somes said.

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GenPrime

157 S. Howard, Suite 605

Spokane, WA 99201

Toll Free: 1.866.624.9855

Ph: 509.624.9855

Fax: 509.462.2847

Email: [email protected]

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The order from Ireland is part of a larger sale to that country, Somes said.

Prime Alert kits are now offered with an enhanced, second-stage option, Somes said. Beyond microbes like anthrax, the kit comes with an added set of tests to determine whether two deadly biotoxins, ricin and botulinum, are present in a sample. Those substances are proteins and are detected by a slightly different test from the one that detects microbes like anthrax, Somes said.

A Spokane Valley man, Kenneth Olsen, was convicted last week in federal court of making and possessing ricin. The Japanese group Aum Shinrikyo used the botulinum toxin several years ago in a failed attempt to contaminate Tokyo subways.

GenPrime also develops kits that are used in the food and beverage industry. In particular, its EZ Count kits helps food makers and breweries monitor bacteria in key processes of making cheese or beer.

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=072403&ID=s1385911&cat=section.business