Maxwell Says
Its Technology
Kills Viruses
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By Rhonda L. Rundle
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
Maxwell Technologies Inc. said tests it commissioned showed that its pulsed-light technology inactivates viruses that can contaminate blood products and biopharmaceuticals, an announcement that sent its shares soaring 22%.
The company's PureBright technology "has inactivated every virus we have tested it against without the assistance of chemicals or any other treatment," said Tom Horgan, Maxwell's chief executive officer. The process can be used on blood plasma products, but not on whole blood. If further tests confirm its effectiveness, it could be used to eradicate the AIDS virus from blood-clotting factors given to hemophiliacs, for example.
The announcement of the third-party tests was the first public indication by Maxwell that the technology might be useful in the production of blood and pharmaceutical products, analysts said. Maxwell has been developing the technology, which uses a very intense pulse of white light, for water purification and for sterilization of medical devices.
The biopharmaceutical field "is a very important incremental market for their technology," said Rob Stone, an analyst at SG Cowen Securities. "Now it will be necessary to see if there are any aftereffects on the relevant proteins and products that people want to purify or sterilize." Some of the viruses that Maxwell's technology inactivates are difficult to detect by current methods, or can't be deactivated by any other means, he said.
If the technology works, it will be at least two years -- and probably much longer -- before the technology could be commercialized. Maxwell said the clinical trials needed for Food and Drug Administration approval will be conducted by future partners.
The company's shares jumped $5.5625 to $30.6875 in trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market yesterday.
In its press release, Maxwell said it has signed "a confidential testing agreement with one company and is in discussions with others" that have reviewed the test results and expressed interest in using the technology. Maxwell said the companies produce blood products and plasma derivatives but declined to identify them.
Maxwell, a 34-year-old San Diego company, developed its pulse-power technology while doing defense research on the electrical output of a nuclear bomb. |
