More on NanoBio's "goop" from the Ann Arbor News: aa.mlive.com
Local researcher, firm tout anthrax cleanser
Solution could be used to decontaminate offices, mail-sorting machines.
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
By DAVID WAHLBERG
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
A milky fluid developed by a University of Michigan researcher could be used within a few weeks to decontaminate Congressional office buildings and mail-sorting facilities laden with anthrax.
The germ cleanser, crafted by U-M immunologist James Baker and licensed to the Ann Arbor firm NanoBio, is undergoing a final round of tests before being approved as an alternative to the bleach and chlorine dioxide currently being used to remove anthrax from buildings.
Baker, who testified before a Congressional committee about anthrax eradication last week, said NanoBio is working with federal regulators to quickly approve the solution. It can also be used in a cream form to rub on the hands of postal workers to prevent or treat anthrax.
"We're getting close," Baker said this week. "It seems to be gaining more interest as the other options go by the wayside."
Baker said the cleanser could be used within a few weeks in the Hart Senate Office Building and the Brentwood mail sorting facility, which have been closed since Oct. 15, after a letter opened in the office of Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle contained anthrax. Nationwide, four people have died and several have been infected with anthrax.
NanoBio's product is at least as effective as bleach, chlorine dioxide and the other anthrax cleansers, but it isn't perfect, Baker said.
"We can take spores off surfaces, but the concept that you're going to sterilize a building is untenable," he said, repeating the message from his recent Congressional testimony. "I think you can achieve a medically safe level of residual spores."
Another advantage of the new product is that bleach and chlorine dioxide contain oxidizers, so they can damage metal, rubber, plastic and other materials, Baker said. His material doesn't have oxidizers. That may be especially helpful for cleaning paintings, antiques and other valuables in Congressional offices and on mail-sorting machines, he said. The cleanser would be dispersed through paint sprayers on objects that then would be washed with soap and water.
The fluid, known as a "nanoemulsion," contains microscopic bubbles that cause deadly bacteria and viruses such as anthrax, Ebola and herpes to explode and die, Baker said. The bubbles are a few hundred nanometers in size, thousands of times smaller than human cells.
Ted Annis, chief executive officer of NanoBio, said the company has produced 10 large drums of the fluid in Ann Arbor and is talking with big manufacturers about scaling up production, which could be done quickly. The company hasn't yet determined a cost for the product, he said.
Annis said the main hurdle now is getting the fluid form approved for office decontamination by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the cream form approved for postal workers by the U.S Food and Drug Administration. NanoBio is negotiating with both agencies for emergency rapid approval, and it hopes to soon market the product commercially as an industrial and household cleanser.
The material contains soybean oil, a solvent and other ingredients including a detergent present in Scope mouthwash, Baker said. The detergent is approved by the FDA but not the EPA. In order for the EPA to sign off on it, NanoBio would have to perform lengthy tests - including those looking at the impact of runoff water on fish - that could take months and cost millions, Baker said.
So the company is testing a version of the material using a different detergent, already approved by the EPA, to make sure it is equally effective, he said. NanoBio has also hired a consultant to apply for rapid approval from the FDA.
Baker and other representatives from NanoBio met this month with representatives from the post office and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an arm of the U.S. Army involved in the Hart building clean-up. DARPA funded Baker's research.
Jan Walker, a DARPA spokeswoman, said Capitol Hill Police are handling questions about anthrax clean-up. Neither the Capital Hill Police nor the post office returned calls seeking comment.
If the post office, DARPA or Capital Hill Police formally request the use of the material, it's likely the FDA and EPA will speed up approval, Annis said. "It all hinges on having a customer inside the government," he said. |
