Sandia chem-bio decontamination foam licensed to Modec

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Sandia National Laboratories today announced that its foam for the rapid decontamination of chemical and biological warfare agents has been licensed to Modec Inc., a Denver company specializing in mass-casualty response systems for weapons of mass destruction.

The nonexclusive license agreement gives Modec access to the foam's formulation and rights to manufacture and sell products based on the formulation in all fields of use. The formulation has been under development at Sandia, a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory, since 1997.

Modec designs and manufactures complete biological and chemical decontamination systems for use by U.S. government agencies and state and local authorities. (See www.massdecon.com.)

The Sandia formulation neutralizes both chemical and biological agents and can begin decontaminating a disaster scene even before a specific contaminant has been identified. It has low-toxicity and low-corrosivity properties and is environmentally friendly. The basic formulation could be deployed as a foam, mist, fog, spray, or liquid. (For more information, see www.sandia.gov/media/cbwfoam.htm.)

Modec was granted the nonexclusive license by Sandia following a competitive selection process. The selection was based on the company's ability to service one or more market sectors, as well as other criteria.

Under terms of the 20-year agreement with Modec, royalties will be returned to Sandia annually. The royalties will be used to support future lab research endeavors.

For more information about Sandia's decontamination foam, see:
http://www.sandia.gov/media/NewsRel/NR2000/discover.htm
http://www.sandia.gov/media/cbwfoam.htm

Media contact:
John German, jdgerma@sandia.gov, (505) 844-5199