The debate over improved Indoor Air Quality is now being addressed by technology originally developed for military uses. This development is not a result of the US government's dual uses programs for defense technologies - programs which have produced arguably limited results - but rather self-funded and aggressive initiatives taken by Air Quality Filtration, formerly a business unit of the $30 Billion Germany-based Hoechst Group.
To identify these and other private sector applications for CPS, the former defense technology used to make safety garments for service personnel during the Gulf War to protect against chemical warfare, Air Quality Filtration, with the help of ISIS International, Inc. of Monroe, CT, engaged Industrial Opinion Leaders (IOLs) from such leading companies as Carrier Corporation, Xerox Corporation, W.L. Gore & Associates, The Filtration Group, Johnson & Johnson, Pharmacia Biotech, Baxter Healthcare, Nike and 12 other innovative industry leaders.
The technology involves a unique filtration technique based on a proprietary fiber structure within which is secured a system of functional particles that can capture dangerous airborne contaminants and fumes. IOL Panelists of the MarketDiscovery, as ISIS calls it, were able to identify applications that address the safety and health of ordinary citizens at home and at work. Once identified, Panelists, and their companies, began working with Air Quality Filtration to turn their insights into products.
According to Gunter Groeger, Air Quality Filtration/Hoechst's chief technologist on this project, "given the increasing concern over air quality and medical safety it was only natural to begin looking into these areas first." ISIS' President, Richard Siegel, stated "we needed to involve innovative market leading companies so that viable new product directions could be found and acted upon rapidly." The Discovery work engaged high level execs from these companies in both phone and in-person structured conversations in order to flush out new directions that address societal needs, while being compatible with the technology and the capabilities of all involved.
Work was guided by detailed business criteria so as to keep the project consistent with Air Quality Filtration/Hoechst's business requirements and resources and those of the market leading companies who were Discovery Panelists. "This approach ensures the results are practical and actionable by all parties, and not just a bunch of blue-skies ideas that go nowhere," says Siegel.
"With the help of ISIS' Industrial Opinion Leader approach, we're already in the market with preliminary products, and strong alliances are in place in the U.S. and Europe to bring the technology into even more exciting areas," says Groeger, "this was a very effective way to move defense technology into the commercial market." In addition to unique commercial and residential air filters, now being marketed in the US and Europe, other CPS Technology applications promising significant breakthroughs in healthcare were identified and are in various stages of joint development with some of the IOL's companies. These follow-on applications remain confidential. While specific financial data is not being released, it is estimated that initial sales are already in the millions of dollars, only 18 months after the IOLs did their work, with projections in excess of $100MM/yr. by 2005.
The CPS initiative was one of three Industrial Opinion Leader-assisted technology planning and commercialization efforts commissioned by Hoechst in the past few years.
ISIS International, Inc. provides a range of customized, exclusive services to technology-based industrial clients in the United States and Europe that dramatically accelerate commercialization of new or underutilized technology.
Results of ISIS-assisted technology commercialization projects have ranged from $100's of million to over $1 billion in value for its clients. Working closely with client upper management teams, ISIS forms a tight business and market focus and then opens a path for engaging global markets at the "industry opinion leader" level with whom ISIS' clients then form commercial, and often joint development relationships. ISIS-proprietary business development processes include MarketDiscovery, The Summit System and Precision Innovation.
The Hoechst Group is an international network of innovative and customer-oriented companies that are among the leading suppliers in the fields of life science products and industrial chemistry.
