Hank Wuh starts accelerator VC/hybrid as next step

As published in 2010 June 11 Pacific Business News by Nanea Kalani.

Honolulu entrepreneur Hank Wuh has created a company called Skai Technologies to function as a “hybrid” business accelerator and venture capital fund for technology startups in Hawaii.

Initial companies in Skai Technologies’ portfolio will include four startups that have been spun out of Wuh’s seven-year-old company, Cellular Bioengineering Inc., as well as two ventures launched earlier this year.

......

“We started with Cellular Bioengineering, and initially we really were very focused on a solution for corneal blindness. But then we were creating new companies just about every year,” Wuh, CEO of Cellular Bioengineering and Skai Technologies, told PBN. “Over the years we evolved and flourished and really started to grow, which wasn’t anticipated. It became obvious that we’re a venture accelerator. We needed a mechanism to spin all these companies out and create new separate entities that can create and generate jobs.”

The name Skai was created as a combination of the words “sky” and the Hawaiian word for sea, “kai.”

“Where the ocean meets the sky is the horizon, which holds infinite possibilities,” Wuh said. “So we invented the word ‘skai’.”

Wuh said to date the spinouts have been internally funded, “but we have plans to capitalize on the products being made through private equity firms on the Mainland and in Asia.”

The forming of Skai Technologies to oversee a portfolio of startups could help facilitate the selling of the startups.

Read more: Hank Wuh starts accelerator/VC hybrid as next step - Pacific Business News (Honolulu) 

New Honolulu spinoff combats counterfeit drugs

As published in 2010 March, Pacific Business News by Nanea Kalani.

Seven years after its founding, a Honolulu-based bioengineering firm is spinning out its fourth biotechnology company. TruTag Technologies is the latest product of Cellular Bioengineering, which founder Hank Wuh describes as a venture accelerator that tries to solve the world’s most significant problems.

TruTag has developed a technology to address the market for counterfeit drugs. Wuh said counterfeit drugs present an $80 billion annual problem worldwide.

The company makes tiny microtags — smaller than a grain of sugar — that can be outfitted with a color-coded bar code. The underlying technology replicates the cuticle structures in the shells of beetles.

The microtags, which are made of nanoporous silica wafers, have been approved as edible by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Each tag would contain a customer-specific code for tracking the authenticity or identity of a product, which could include medicine, foods and other solids and liquids. The codes can be “read” using spectrometer-based readers.

Read more.

News Release: Trutag Authentication Technology Wins Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Innovation of the Year Award

Honolulu, Hawaii, March 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — TruTag Technologies, a spinout of Cellular Bioengineering, Inc., was selected as the 2010 North American Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Innovation of the Year by Frost & Sullivan. TruTag™ microtags ('TruTags') are secure, optically encoded micro‐crystals made of pure, nanoporous silica, which is deemed "Generally Regarded as Safe, or (GRAS)" by the FDA. Therefore, TruTags are edible and can be used to authenticate and identify medicine, food and numerous other solid or liquid products.

Counterfeit goods and drugs pose a real threat to consumer safety as well as to companies whose brands are compromised and profits stolen. "We are pleased to recognize TruTags as an innovative and comprehensive security solution for maintaining the integrity of drug supplies," said Research Analyst, Misty Hughes of Frost & Sullivan. "Our independent research teams found that the ability of TruTags to integrate security at the pill level by using a spectral signature chosen from over a trillion possible codes was a distinctive and cost‐effective security solution to the problem of fake prescription medicines, which totals $30 to $50 billion annually."

With TruTag technology each tag contains a custom‐manufactured 'spectral signature' chosen from over one trillion possibilities. The unique choice of tag signature and product combination is the TruTag key to confirming the authenticity of the product, yet tagging each item costs less than a small fraction of a penny.

Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Award recognizes companies in a variety of markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in‐depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

"The unique properties of the TruTag technology platform—edible, covert, resistant to high heat, and able to be mixed into a coating, dye or ink—lends itself to a wide variety of applications and industries, including medicine, dietary supplements, cosmetics, textiles, electronics and luxury goods," said Michael O'Neill, PhD, CTO of TruTag Technologies.

"We are spinning out TruTag Technologies as an independent company in order to focus on developing a full spectrum of market applications for the TruTag platform," said Hank Wuh, MD, MPH, CEO of Cellular Bioengineering, Inc., the parent company of TruTag Technologies, "TruTag™ microtags will have a fundamental impact on optimizing product safety and integrity for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and functional foods industry."

TruTag Technologies joins other prestigious and innovative 2010 Frost & Sullivan award winners, such as Covance Inc., Game Ready, Immunomic Therapeutics, ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Millipore Corporation, Molecular Biometrics, MannKind Corporation, Oridion Systems Ltd., Positron Corporation, and ResMed.

About TruTag Technologies

TruTag Technologies is a new life sciences technology company spun out from Cellular Bioengineering, Inc., and is focused on applying its unique, edible spectral microtags for physical verification of authentic products. TruTags are edible and biologically inert, inconspicuous (50‐ 100 microns), require no energy input or output, and are resistant to high heat (melting point above 1600 C). Please go to www.trutags.com for more information. To read the independent research paper prepared by Frost & Sullivan as part of the award selection process, go to http://trutags.com/news.php.

News Release: Use of DeconGel® for Beryllium Cleanup Wins Department of Energy’s Environmental, Security, Safety and Health (ESS&H) Achievement Award

Honolulu, Hawaii, February 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — CBI Polymers, a subsidiary of Cellular Bioengineering, Inc., is pleased to announce that National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and Safety and Ecology Corporation (SEC) have won the Environmental, Security, Safety and Health (ESS&H) Achievement Award in recognition of their innovative use of DeconGel® as a beryllium decontamination technique for the mitigation and abatement of hazardous particulate.  DeconGel® is a proprietary hydrogel used to efficiently and safely decontaminate surfaces of radioactive isotopes and other hazardous chemicals and toxins.

NETL, part of DOE’s national laboratory system, is owned and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). A DOE-NETL project manager stated in a letter to SEC, “In all my years with the federal government, I can honestly say that this has been the best project I have worked on.”

Led by Mr. Hector Rodriguez of NETL and Mr. Stace Johnson of SEC, NETL testing and use of DeconGel® in beryllium decontamination reduced labor costs by a reported 70% compared to traditional methods due to decreased labor requirements, and significant reductions in the volume of waste generated.  Using DeconGel® SEC decontaminated 48,500 square feet of surface area, including office material, and laboratory equipment of significant value, historical artifacts and various items considered irreplaceable. Approximately 250 tons of beryllium-contaminated equipment was removed, making 27 laboratories and three high bay areas in 12 buildings become reusable.

In addition, DeconGel® reduced harmful potential exposure to workers.  Beryllium and beryllium compounds are classified as Category 1 carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Traditional beryllium decontamination methods include the wet/wipe method, high detergent application and scrubbing technique, organic solvent application and removal, particulate vacuums, and sticky cloths. These methods are expensive, time consuming, and can be a safety hazard due to prolonged worker exposure and generation of airborne particles.

“I am extremely pleased that these two organizations have been singled out for exceptional performance while using our product.  DeconGel® has been proven effective on a wide variety of decontamination problems, and we have received requests from organizations to keep an 'at the ready' stockpile of DeconGel® handy for emergency situations,” said Larry Stack, President and Chief Operating Officer of CBI Polymers. “The problem with beryllium and other toxic substances is that traditional cleaning methods simply don't work well on rough porous surfaces to remove contaminants from microscopic pores.  However, DeconGel® works effectively on both smooth and rough hard surfaces, even with complex three dimensional structures, and can generally reduce contamination to  below safe levels with one single application, ” ended Stack.

DeconGel® is a safe, non-toxic, peel away hydrogel that requires minimal training to use and has a stable shelf life.  While DeconGel® is gaining in use within the Department of Energy sites for remediation of radiological, nuclear, and hazardous chemical substances such as beryllium, it's also an essential product to keep on hand for hazardous materials (HAZMAT) or Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) first responder units concerned about immediate clean up after a major incident from accidents or acts of terrorism such as a dirty bomb.

“Normal chemical cleaning solutions, power washers, and wipes simply will not be able to remove radioactive isotopes from sidewalks, buildings and streets in the case of an RDD or dirty bomb incident, not to mention the huge amount of contaminated waste such methods generate,” Stack said.

Development of DeconGel® was funded by the Hawaii Technology Development Venture (HTDV) / Office of Naval Research (ONR). Additional R&D funding was secured through the USAF Force Protection Battlelab, the National Defense Center of Excellence for Research in Ocean Sciences (CEROS) under its contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Department of Energy.

CBI Polymers is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cellular Bioengineering, Inc., (www.cellularbioengineering.com) with a focus on developing easy-to-use and "green" peelable polymers for use in radiological, nuclear, chemical, and biological decontamination.  CBI Polymers specializes in technology to clean nuclear power plants, research labs, decontamination and decommissioning sites, hazardous chemical spills, mold, and more.

In 2005, CBI was named a winner of the R&D 100 Award and was nominated for The 2009 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor for technological achievement bestowed by the President of the United States on America 's leading innovators.  In October, CBI was honored as one of three National Finalists for the Christopher Columbus Foundation Homeland Security Award for 2009.

About CBI:  CBI invents, develops, and acquires disruptive technologies to transform novel ideas and innovations to commercial products.  The Company has an Intellectual Property portfolio of over 25 patents and patent applications.  Other divisions of CBI include:

1.      Eyegenix™ is developing a bio-integrating artificial cornea which holds the promise of returning sight to 10 million people worldwide who are blind from corneal disease.

2.      TruTag™ is a nanoporous silica microtag which can be used to authenticate valuable assets, from organic foods to pills and capsules to be ingested, protecting consumers from loss and the health risks of counterfeit products.

3.      E Canary is a bio sensor comprised of living cardiac cells on a CCD chip which can detect both known and unknown harmful threats in the environment such as chemical contaminants and biologic weapons.

CBI websites include: http://www.cellularbioengineering.com
http://www.decongel.com
http://www.trutags.com

Read Article

Innovative Use of Decon Gel™ as a Beryllium Decontamination Technique

As published in 2009 Fall Best Practices Newsletter by the Department of Fossil Energy:

The Office of Fossil Energy's (FE) Office of Environment, Security, Safety and Health (ESS&H) (FE-7) has sponsored the Excellence in ESS&H Awards since 1995. Over the years the Excellence Award has evolved along with FE's mission, and continues to be one of the greatest honors FE has to bestow upon its dedicated employees both federal and contractor....At the culmination of a vigorous debate, the judges settled on two Best Practices: Innovative Use of Decon Gel™ as a Beryllium Decontamination Technique...

...Decon Gel™ is a nonhazardous epoxy material with a limited curing time. In most testing at the NETL-ALB site, only one application of Decon Gel™ was needed, reducing worker exposure and generating no measurable airborne hazards. Additionally, studies have indicated that using Decon Gel™ can generate a cost savings of up to 70 percent compared to traditional methods. Another advantage of using this gel is it reduces the volume of waste typically generated from traditional decontamination methods.

Read full article here.

Sliming the World Clean with Blue DeconGel™

As published in December 2009, Hawaii Business Magazine by Beverly Creamer: 

The Problem

How do you decontaminate military aircraft after they’ve collected dangerous air samples from nuclear tests? The prime method — pressure-washing with soap and chemicals — leaves thousands of gallons of contaminated water to dispose of. 

The Solution

Hank Wuh’s Cellular Bioengineering Inc. says it experimented for two years and created a bright-blue gel capable of sliming the worst hazardous waste and picking up every speck of residue.

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Painting and Peeling Contaminants Away at EM Facilities

As published in 2009 November U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management  Update Newsletter:

A gel that can be painted or sprayed on a wide range of surfaces and then peeled off after it dries—pulling radioactive and chemical contaminants with it—could be a huge help in completing many of the cleanup jobs on the Office of Environmental Management (EM)'s agenda.

That's why EM's Office of Deactivation and Decommissioning and Facility Engineering is now testing and evaluating a product called DeconGel™ made by Cellular Bioengineering Inc. (CBI) (www.cellularbioengineering.com) of Honolulu. 

Conventional methods of decontaminating the interior walls, floors and other surfaces of contaminated buildings often rely on liquid "detergents" or physical methods to remove the contamination. But these approaches may require scrubbing or wiping that can spread contamination over a larger area. 

DeconGel™ can be cheaper to use than other decontamination methods because it can be applied faster and typically generates smaller volumes of waste. 

It also offers certain technical advantages. It can be applied to rough and smooth, painted and unpainted concrete surfaces as well as aluminum and steel. It fixes surface contaminants immediately and then penetrates into the pores and cracks and locks the embedded contamination into a polymer matrix as it dries. 

When dry, the film resembles and has the consistency of a "thick Saran Wrap" says Andrew Szilagyi, EM's Project Management for the development of new D&D technologies. "You peel it off and crumble it up like aluminum foil or Saran Wrap then put it in a bag or a drum and there you go."

Depending on the contaminants involved, Szilagyi says it might be possible to dispose of the dried DeconGel™ through less stringent and less expensive disposal options than other cleanup methods would require. That could mean using an industrial landfill instead of a radiological disposal facility.

With more than 3,500 contaminated facilities, including nearly 1,000 buildings with radioactive contamination, EM has plenty of places to put DeconGel™ to work. 

EM field tested DeconGel™ in January and February of this year at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, where paintable and sprayable versions were applied to the floor and walls in a hot cell area of Building 2026. The main contaminants of concern were americium and plutonium. Removal efficiencies ranged from a high of 90 percent to lower levels in areas previously treated with sealants or fixatives. 

Paula Kirk of EM, who managed the field test at Oak Ridge, says the product has two distinct advantages over conventional methods of cleanup. "When DeconGel™ is applied, it strongly holds the airborned contaminants which become fixed under the gel. This is important when dealing with plutonium and other contaminants, as the radioactive particles can easily become airborned and can be spread by people walking across a floor."

She also noted that “If a floor needs to be ‘scrabbled’ [by mechanically removing surface layers of concrete to eliminate contamination] one could be looking at a signifi cantly larger secondary waste stream as opposed to the dried DeconGel™.”

DeconGel™ took a winding road to the gritty world of decontaminating concrete floors, says Michael Coy, CBI’s vice president for operations. 

Hank Wuh, a former orthopedic surgeon with what Coy describes as “an innate interest in problem solving,” founded the company in 2003 and then set about finding a new way to treat corneal dystrophy, a set of conditions in which cloudy material builds up in the cornea and clouds vision.

The conventional medical approach had been to use corneal transplants to treat the condition. But Wuh wanted to find a different approach for the many parts of the world resist transplants because of religious and cultural taboos against taking tissue from another person.

So he set out down two roads—one was to find a way to grow new corneal cells from a small sample of cells taken from the patient’s own eye and the other was to create an artificial cornea from a polymeric hydrogel.

While testing polymers, one of the scientists on Wuh’s team discovered that the material they were working with might be able to remove radioactive isotopes from human skin.

After the company successfully tested the polymer’s radioactive removal properties on mice, it got a request from the Air Force, Coy recalls, to see if the polymer could be used to remove transuranic elements from the aluminum skin of an aircraft that had been contaminated.

It was while doing that testing, Coy says, that some of the polymer spilled on a laboratory floor. “We let it dry and we peeled it,” he says, “and there was this fairly white looking area in contrast to the surrounding floor. We said ‘what if we did this deliberately?’ and from that point on we started refining it.”

CBI, which has adopted the corporate motto of “Invent, Disrupt, Inspire” is still developing an artificial cornea. But DeconGel™, the product based on the accidental spill, is speeding ahead. 

CBI began selling a commercial version of DeconGel™ last year to nuclear power utilities, hospitals and research laboratories that generate or use radioactive materials. 

Coy says CBI now has “40 plus customers” and is “at an advanced stage of startup” in its commercial business.

EM has provided CBI with grants of $1.47 million in Fiscal Year 2009 and $1.59 in Fiscal Year 2010 to support testing of DeconGel™ at contaminated facilities and help the company develop and improved version of the product.

By the end of FY 2010, EM’s goal is to have a strong technical package—including case studies— in place to provide guidance on whether DeconGel™ is the right product for a particular cleanup need.

In addition to DeconGel’s™ use during deactivation and decommissioning of structures, Szilagyi hopes further testing may show the product can also be used by DOE’s research laboratories to clean up spills and treat contaminated tools and equipment. And, he says, it’s possible that use of this peelable gel might allow some contaminated buildings to be saved from demolition altogether and used for other purposes. 

Read article from original source.

DeconGel™ Honored as National Finalist for the Prestigious Christopher Columbus Homeland Security Award

As published in 2009 October press release by Linda Jameson:

Cellular Bioengineering Inc. (CBI), a Hawaii-based technology accelerator, announced today that it was honored as one of three National Finalists for the Christopher Columbus Foundation Homeland Security Award for 2009. The presentation was made at a National Awards ceremony in the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. This award is the result of a year long national competition to identify the individual citizen or company that is making “a measurable and constructive contribution related to basic and/or advanced research in the area of homeland security which will result in a significant and positive benefit to society.”

The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation is an independent Federal government agency established to "encourage and support research, study and labor designed to produce new discoveries in all fields of endeavor for the benefit of mankind." Governed by a Presidential appointed Board of Trustees, the Foundation seeks to nurture and recognize pioneering individuals and programs which reflect the visionary spirit and pioneering heritage of Christopher Columbus.

CBI was chosen to be a finalist for this prestigious award based on its invention and commercialization of DeconGel™, a product of its CBI Polymers Division. DeconGel™ is a polymeric hydrogel which is the state-of-the-art technology for the effective containment and decontamination of radiological waste and potential nuclear threats as well as chemical and other toxic wastes. Nuclear power plants and government agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Defense are early customers and users of DeconGel™. Additional applications of DeconGel™ are being expanded for the decontamination of industrial and military grade hazardous chemicals and biological agents.

Kimberly Owens, the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Christopher Columbus Foundation, congratulated CBI for its development of DeconGel™. “This hydrogel is a powerful tool in the remediation of radioactive waste and nuclear threats, and future uses are sure to be discovered,” she said. Owens went on to assert that the Board had a very difficult decision to make in choosing between the three National Finalists.

DeconGel™ was funded by the Hawaii Technology Development Venture (HTDV) / Office of Naval Research (ONR). Additional R&D funding was secured through the USAF Force Protection Battlelab, the National Defense Center of Excellence for Research in Ocean Sciences (CEROS) under its contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the Department of Energy.

CBI is a venture accelerator focused on disruptive biomedical and biodefense innovations. Founded in 2003 in Honolulu, Hawaii, CBI works with world-class research institutions to transform novel ideas into commercial products, especially in the area of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) detection and remediation.

“We are extremely honored to be named as a National Finalist for this prestigious award,” said Larry Stack, Chief Operating Officer of CBI Polymers. “Our goal as a company is to accelerate the commercialization of innovative technologies that will have a significant impact upon the security and well being of our nation. This award exemplifies CBI’s motto: Invent. Disrupt. Inspire.”

In 2005, CBI was named a winner of the R&D 100 Award and was nominated for The 2009 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor for technological achievement bestowed by the President of the United States on America's leading innovators. 


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Hawaii Company Develops, Markets High-Tech Cleaner

As published in 2008 August, Pacific Business News by Nanea Kalani.

With an eye for what he calls “disruptive technologies,” Honolulu entrepreneur Hank Wuh has entered the commercial market for cleaning nuclear and hazardous waste.

His company, Cellular Bioengineering Inc., has created a cleaning gel that made its way from research and development to the commercial market in approximately two years.

“CBI continues to search the world for significant disruptive ideas which it can nurture and grow into mature products that will change the way the world operates,” said Wuh, who founded his company in Moiliili in 2003.

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CBI Profile on Local Ventures, KGMB 9

As seen on 2009 August 2 on Local Ventures, KGMB 9:

View full episode (Local Ventures 215)

Governor Lingle Names Innovation Award Winners

As published in 2009 April in Governor Linda Lingle's Press Release:

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle today named three recipients of the Governor’s Innovation Awards for their commitment to creative thinking and new ideas which result in better products, services and processes, while also improving Hawai‘i’s future.

“Through ‘disruptive ideas,’ as one of our award winners refers to innovation, this latest group of innovators is helping us all realize the importance of looking beyond what’s always been done, and striving for how we can do things better,” said Governor Lingle. “As these award winners demonstrate, innovation can be something as simple as using native plants to landscape our roadways, to more leading-edge development of new technologies that can restore people’s sight or generate valuable products from marine algae.”

The recipients of the Governor’s Innovation Award for February 2009 are as follows:

Innovation by an Individual: Hank Wuh

In 2003, Hank Wuh founded Cellular Bioengineering Inc. (CBI), a Hawai‘i-based developer of technologies with biomedical and biodefense applications. CBI searches for what Wuh calls “disruptive ideas” and “disruptive technologies” that will eventually overturn the status quo and change the future. Wuh’s company has the worldwide license for the development of a “bio-integrating polymer corneal” substitute called the EYEGENIX™ Artificial Cornea which aims to return the gift of sight to millions of people. Other products are a paint-and-peel gel that can enhance biohazard cleanup and a nanochip that can track pills to thwart counterfeited drugs. With a company motto of “Invent. Disrupt. Inspire.” Wuh and his team at CBI are ensuring that Hawai‘i remains at the forefront of innovative thinking.

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DeconGel™ Focus on KHON Fox News

As seen in 2009 April on KHON Fox News:

Act 221 Success Stories: Cellular Bioengineering

As published in 2009 April 8, Midweek.

Recently, Hank Wuh's company, Cellular Bioengineering Inc., launched its latest product--a gel capable of cleaning up everything fro ma radioactive nuclear spill to ground-in dirt. Paint it on: peel it off the next day. Pretty much as simple as that.

And the worldwide market? Oh, about $200 million.

Already another of the company's phenomenal products--an artificial cornea--is in human clinical trials. It has the potential to return sight to 10 million people around the world whose blindness is caused by corneal disease.

Cellular Bioengineering has grown quickly and supported local hires. Wuh's own Hawaii roots and his schooling--partly at the University of Hawaii, along with Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University and Stanford University--make it important to him to offer opportunities to young people from the Islands.

Intellectual property--in other words, new inventions--is the core of Wuh's company, and in many ways the core of Hawaii's ability to develop an economic sector around high technology.

That core has been supported by Act 221, which has been key to jump-starting research and intellectual property development in the Islands.

With 25 patents in his portfolio, Wuh is already impacting global markets, not just the Hawaii market. The inventions and products his company controls have the potential for upward growth nearly everywhere in the world with the possibility of billions of dollars of business. And all of it is the result of good ideas given good support.

To read full article, click on picture:

HVCA Technology Entrepreneur Awardees Named

As published in 2008 November, Honolulu Star Bulletin by Erika Engle:

The Hawaii Venture Capital Association has named its first Technology Entrepreneurs of the Year, in a pau-hana event last night at the Plaza Club.

Winners were named in four categories: Lorenz Sell, president of Blue Lava Technologies Inc. as Young Entrepreneur; Bob King, president of Pacific Biodiesel Inc. as Clean Tech Entrepreneur; Jason Lau, managing member of TalkStory Productions LLC as Digital Media Entrepreneur, and Hank Wuh, chief executive officer of Cellular Bioengineering Inc., as Invention Entrepreneur.....

...Hank Wuh founded Cellular Bioengineering in 2003 to develop disruptive technologies with biomedical and biodefense applications. The company works to shepherd ideas into mature products for the health care and homeland security industries.

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CBI Announces the Commercial Launch of DeconGel™

As published in 2008 October Press Release by Linda Jameson:

Honolulu, Hawaii – (October 29th, 2008) CBI Polymers, a division of Cellular Bioengineering Inc. (CBI), announced today the launch of its DeconGel™ 1101 product. DeconGel™ is the most effective radiological decontamination solution available to industries worldwide ranging from nuclear power utilities, decommissioning and decontamination sites, hospital facilities, and research laboratories. The worldwide market is estimated to be $200 million per year.

DeconGel™ effectively decontaminates a broad range of surfaces and contaminants. Its extraordinary binding properties allow it to trap and encapsulate a wide spectrum of radioisotopes on different substrates in a simple, no-preparation process allowing easy and safe disposal without the use of water or cleaning agents.

DeconGel™ has been in beta testing for the past year, and has secured more than 30 customers around the world. Current customers include Ontario Power Generation, Washington Savannah River Company, Sandia National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Colorado State University, and Tripler Army Medical Center.

DeconGel™’s advantages and innovations include:

• Immediate fixation of the contamination
• Safe and user friendly
• Cost effective (significantly reduces staff hours spent performing the decontamination procedure)
• Easy application, removal, and disposal
• Environmental friendly, no waste water and a minimal amount of solid waste generated

“DeconGel™ is an amazing contribution to our industry. We especially like how easy and efficient DeconGel™ is to use,” stated Dan Young, First Line Manager at Ontario Power Generation, “We used the gel to decontaminate a concrete room that was difficult to clean with our current method. The application was very simple. We applied the gel and peeled the next day. It came up from the floor very easily with minimal waste generated and reduced the loose contamination from 5000 cpm (counts per minute) to 0 cpm.”

“Using DeconGel™ resulted in substantial cost savings for our department,” said Tom Johnson, PhD., Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health at Colorado State University, “We utilized DeconGel™ to effectively decontaminate volatized tritiated thymadine from one of our chemical hoods. This resulted in CSU being able to begin using the hood facility after four years of not being able to use it.”

“The transformation of novel ideas to commercial products is the hallmark of CBI, and we believe DeconGel™ will play a critical role in the management of radiological and nuclear contamination on a global scale,” says Roberto Mandanas, General Manager of DeconGel™. “We plan to enter into strategic alliance with major industry partners in key world markets in the coming months.”

DeconGel™ was initially funded by the Hawaii Technology Development Venture (HTDV) under its contract with the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Additional R&D funding was secured through the USAF Force Protection Battlelab, HTDV, and the National Defense Center of Excellence for Research in Ocean Sciences (CEROS) under its contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

For information regarding DeconGel™, go to www.decongel.com, or contact Roberto Mandanas at rmandanas@cellularbioengineering.com.

About CBI

CBI invents, develops, and acquires disruptive technologies to transform novel ideas and innovations to commercial products. The Company has an Intellectual Property portfolio of over 25 patents and patent applications, and four operating divisions including:

1. DeconGel™ is a commercialized product with superior efficacy for the containment and decontamination of radioactive and nuclear spills, and with additional applications in industrial cleaning and environmental management.
2. Eyegenix™ is a bio-integrating artificial cornea. It is in pilot human clinical trials, and holds the promise of returning sight to 10 million people worldwide who are blind from corneal disease.
3. PixiTag™ is a nanoporous silica microtag which can be used to authenticate valuable assets, from great works of art and luxury goods to pills and capsules to be ingested, protecting consumers from loss and the health risks of counterfeit products.
4. E Canary is a bio-sensor comprised of living cardiac cells on a CCD chip which can detect both known and unknown harmful threats in the environment such as chemical contaminants and biologic weapons.

Please go to www.cellularbioengineering.com for further information.

Media Contact:

Linda Jameson

(808) 221-3552

ljameson821@gmail.com