LaamScience Nears First Product Rollout

LaamScience Inc., Research Triangle Park, N.C., a start-up company that is developing commercial products based on light-activated antimicrobial nanotechnology, reports it has raised more than $2 million to fund continued research, business operations and marketing as it nears its first product rollout. The technology, developed by scientists at North Carolina State University’s College of Textiles, Raleigh, N.C., and Atlanta-based Emory University, produces a coating that is activated by sunlight and other conventional light sources to render the surface of a material deadly to virtually all viruses and most bacteria, according to the company. LaamScience plans to offer products that will protect against influenza, cold and respiratory syncytial viruses; avian flu; SARS; West Nile virus; and biological warfare agents such as smallpox, Ebola and others.

The company’s first products will be improved versions of surgical masks and the N95 face masks worn to protect against inhalation of viruses and particulates. According to Tom Roberg, president and CEO, LaamScience, the traditional masks can still spread infection when they are taken off because the infectious agents remain viable on the exposed surface.

Roberg expects to introduce the masks during the first quarter of 2008. Subsequent products may include hospital textiles such as gowns, divider curtains and bed linens; filters for airplane, home and building applications; and products for farm applications including poultry and other animal habitats.