GenPrime Inc., of Spokane, says it posted 25 percent revenue growth last year and also has raised nearly $1.3 million in capital to develop and launch a new medical device it has developed called the BacSTAT.


The 10-year-old company, which primarily develops rapid-detection devices for substances that might pose a potential biological threat, attributes its growth last year primarily to sales of its Prime Alert Biodetection System, says Buck Somes, GenPrimes CEO.


That product screens powders for the presence of potentially dangerous bacteria, as well as toxins identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including anthrax, typhoid fever, and ricin.


The Prime Alert system detects those threats within five to 10 minutes. Each Prime Alert unit sells for about $8,500, Somes says.


Somes declines to disclose the private companys total revenues.


GenPrime currently has 12 employees, and plans to hire about five more people this year.


Demand for Prime Alert has been strong from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Somes says. In addition, North Carolina-based Scott Health & Safety, a division of the global conglomerate Tyco International Ltd., has placed large orders for the system.


In a multiyear agreement reached in 2005, GenPrime gave Scott Health & Safety exclusive rights to distribute its Prime Alert system to first responders to possible biological threats


Its a nice feeling to be at a point where our existing business units are able to sustain the operations of the company, Somes says. It allows us to put more efforts into future growth opportunities.


Last year, GenPrime started developing the BacSTAT device, which detects the presence of bacteria in blood platelets in about five minutes through a dipstick-like device that analyzes bacterial content in fluid at one end and displays the results on a screen at the other end. Contaminated blood platelets produce illnesses and in some cases kill an estimated one out of every 2,000 blood transfusion patients, the company says.


The company raised equity capital to develop and launch the product over a six-month period last year, Somes says. Angel investors contributed most of those funds, he says.


The company plans to start selling BacSTAT in the third quarter of this year. It hasnt set a price for the product yet, he says.


Prime Alert sales currently account for about 90 percent of GenPrimes revenues, though BacSTAT is expected to make up 30 percent of sales later.


Somes expects that revenues from BacSTAT eventually will surpass Prime Alert sales because the BacSTAT likely would be used more routinely than Prime Alert.


GenPrimes first product, Easy Count, which it introduced in 2000, identifies and measures the activity of yeast in beer to maintain consistent fermentation during the brewing process. Its also used in ethanol production.


Each Easy Count units sells for about $7,000.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.