University of Missouri-Kansas City small business specialists helped researchers based in Drexel commercialize their research and broaden their markets.
The prospect of bioterrorism has been a concern in our nation since the terrorist attacks on New York City nearly eight years ago. Since then civilian and military authorities have sought increasingly sophisticated approaches to biodefense and biohazard detection.
In a small Missouri town about 35 miles south of downtown Kansas City innovators are working on the problem.
A science and engineering team led by entrepreneurs Dave Alburty and Andy Page is developing a contaminant detection technology that uses unique methods to concentrate large initial sample volumes into very small final volumes for analysis. Their InnovaPrep system was originally developed for several U.S. government biodefense detection systems, according to Dave Alburty, founder and president of AlburtyLab Inc. based in Drexel, Mo.
After focusing on the biodefense market — since that's the world they came from and whose clients they knew — Page and Alburty tapped the Small Business and Technology Development Center at the University of Missouri-Kansas City to help them learn more about commercializing their research and to broaden their markets. Consequently they've branched into veterinary diagnostics and medical point-of-care diagnostics. The advice they received from Denise Fields, SBTDC commercialization specialist, helped them determine what their products should look like.
Reviewed 2013-02-18