Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday July 21, 1999
Maxwell Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:MXWL - news) said that independent testing of the system, known as PureBright, confirmed that it kills viruses in products such as plasma derivatives without the assistance of chemicals or any other treatment.
Since whole blood is too dense to allow light to filter through, the pulse system cannot be used to kill viruses in blood for transfusions, said Ted Toch, president of the Maxwell unit handling the technology.
Maxwell said it was also applying the PureBright technology, which was originally developed to simulate nuclear explosions, to sterilize other medical products and to purify water.
Commercial development of the technology known as PureBright, is at best two years, and possibly more than three years, away, Toch said.
The $11 billion blood products and biopharmaceuticals industry now uses heat, filtration and chemical treatments to kill viruses, but no single process inactivates them all and some viruses are not affected by any of those methods. The PureBright system uses broad spectrum light that is 90,000 times as intense as sunlight at sea level to destroy target RNA and DNA structures, the San Diego-based industrial technology company said.
Maxwell said it had signed a testing agreement with one company and is in discussions with others that have expressed interest in using the technology in their manufacturing and quality assurance processes.
"We expect to begin joint laboratory testing at multiple locations within the next few months," Toch said. "The next steps would be negotiation of commercial licenses, followed by extensive pilot-scale testing."
Toch said commercial application would be subject to regulatory approval. After the news, Maxwell stock rose $5.56 to close at $30.69 on Nasdaq.
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