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| Jeff Bush, a technician at the Oregon manufacturer, checks for imperfections. (Photo by Rob Finch) |
Military Snaps up Bandages Made From Recycled Shrimp Shells
BY BOAZ HERZOG
Posted on 07/05/2004 3:06:32 PM PDT by Incorrigible
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Military Snaps up Bandages Made From Recycled Shrimp ShellsBY BOAZ HERZOG |
TIGARD, Ore. -- Bandages made with a material derived from recycled shrimp shells have helped stop the bleeding of thousands of U.S. soldiers abroad.
The bandage, made by HemCon Inc. of Tigard, is unique because it sticks tightly to wounds, and its novel blood-clotting ingredients help stop massive blood loss within a couple of minutes. The military has sought such a treatment for decades. Hemorrhage is the largest preventable cause of deaths among U.S. soldiers in combat, accounting for about half of all such fatalities.
Developed by scientists at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, the bandage received an expedited review by federal regulators, winning clearance in fall 2002. Providence Health System licensed the technology to HemCon in exchange for an equity stake in the privately held company and royalties on sales, worth a maximum of $25 million.
The Pentagon rushed thousands of the bandages to U.S. armed forces preparing for war in Iraq. Now, the U.S. military is considering a new dress code that would put two of the bandages in each soldier's uniform, HemCon executives said.
Despite the bandages' success, the biotechnology startup loses money on every wound dressing it produces because the manufacturing process is expensive and time-consuming. The company expects within the next year to halt its own hemorrhaging, the red-ink variety.
HemCon expects to soon receive a grant of $8 million to $9 million from the Department of Defense. David Wu, D-Ore., hopes to secure an additional $12 million in military contracts for HemCon next year.
Demand for HemCon's 4-inch-square, Styrofoam-feeling, vinegar-smelling bandages is so strong that the company keeps no inventory, co-founder Ken Gregory said. As soon as HemCon produces each batch, a FedEx truck picks it up for delivery.
Production starts with HemCon air-freighting in chitosan, or recycled shrimp shells, from a remote town in northern Iceland. At a price of about $100 a kilogram, the shells aren't cheap, so HemCon executives are looking at encouraging shrimp producers in Oregon and other states to begin making purified chitosan. The roundabout process also involves freeze-drying the bandages in New Hampshire and sterilizing them in Southern California.
For now, the company has only one customer: the U.S. military. HemCon next will try to sell its bandages to militaries of nations friendly to the United States, such as those belonging to NATO, said Bill Wiesmann, HemCon's co-founder. Combined, the market would be just as large as the U.S. military, he said.
The civilian market represents a huge untapped source of revenue. John Morgan, HemCon's president and chief executive, estimated the market for products that stop external bleeding at $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion a year.
HemCon has gained approval to sell its bandage for $125 to $175 to consumers with a prescription. The company also expects to sell the bandage for use in ambulances and operating rooms, but prices for such markets are uncertain.
Tests are under way to prove that the bandages not only stop bleeding but also ward off infections. By the end of this year, HemCon expects to seek Food and Drug Administration approval for antibacterial claims for the bandages, Morgan said.
July 5, 2004
(Boaz Herzog is a staff writer for The Oregonian of Portland, Ore. He can be contacted at boazherzog@news.oregonian.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
In one way...I hope this company doesnt make that much money of wounded US GIs...
On the other hand ..as a former US Army combat medic ...these sound like just the ticket
a fantas stick find/invention.....wish we woulda had them back then.......
FMCDH(BITS)
,,, and shrimp bandages.
spicy mexican guacamole shrimp
Christ, are these guys tardo?
We throw away metric tons of shrimp shells in Louisiana each year.
The people you meet online...
...Can't even use 'em for cat food, because they swell up and explode the cans.
I have been throwing my shrimp hulls away, Where can I send them I dont think the Post office would be happy if I mailed them.
I hope they make millions from saving the lives of our brave servicemen who do a very dangerous job and deserve the best technology available at whatever the price.
Some of us use them to make stock. Cooking rice in shrimp stock imparts a wonderful flavor to the rice.
Now if only they could come up with Marie-rose sauce sticking plasters! ;-)
Thanks for posting but this is old news.....
You can buy these for home use now, 35 USD a pop.
This is the face of "war profiteers" the left derides.
,,, don't tell me Ern, the prawn butchers had to face east while this was done? :)
"After we win this war and we take over everything, we can get American shrimpers out here and shrimp these waters."
(Wouldn't that be horrible, having to eat all that shrimp 3 times a day and save the shells?)
Heck, you forgot the bandage shrimp!
This is a great find. Many great discoveries came out of wartime, incidentally. Necessity is the mother of invention, and crisis situations seem to jump start the human mind.
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