SEHO .30 News just out ... This is big!!
Press Release Source: Sense Holdings, Inc.
Sense Holdings Executes Agreement to Develop Next-Generation Handheld Explosive Detectors at Fraction of Cost of Current Products
Monday November 14, 4:01 pm ET
Prototype Device Expected by 1Q 2006 Under Joint Development Agreement with Oak Ridge Nat'l Laboratory
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 2005--Sense Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB:SEHO - News; FWB:OUP), a developer of next-generation biometric and explosive detection security technologies for government and commercial security markets, has executed a landmark agreement with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to jointly develop a very compact, handheld, real time explosive detection device with unprecedented sensitivity, at a fraction of the cost of currently available products and technologies.
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Sense's proposed device is designed to provide a number of core advantages over currently available detection products for the global Homeland Security marketplace. It is expected to measure only about the size of a cell phone and weigh about two pounds - yet will possess powerful and sensitive detection technology based on Sense's breakthrough microcantilever technology platform, a pioneering advance in the science of Micro Electromechanical Systems (MEMS).
The Company expects to have its first-generation prototype of the handheld, lightweight detection device ready by first quarter of 2006, and ready for marketing by mid-2006. Functionality of future generations of the detector will be subsequently expanded to include chemical warfare agents, biological warfare agents and narcotics, the Company anticipates. Sense owns the exclusive worldwide marketing rights for this patented technology for all security applications. Such multi-purpose detection devices will be designed to address a number of additional security market segments, including customs, law enforcement and border patrol, among other public and private markets.
"This Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) we have entered into with Oak Ridge National Laboratories will significantly accelerate our mission to provide leading-edge, superior explosive and chemical detection innovations for government and commercial markets," said Dore Perler, CEO of Sense Holdings. "It will make accessible to customers of all sizes and with wide-ranging budgets the most advanced detection capabilities available at dramatic cost savings, possibly about one-fifth of the current cost of leading detection systems. We've worked with the government's world-class Oak Ridge scientific team in the past, but this expanded CRADA now repositions us to bring leading-edge miniaturized and cost-effective detection systems to market."
Sense owns the exclusive worldwide marketing rights for all relevant technologies and applications - positioning it for high-growth revenues in multiple industries and markets. The CRADA is initially effective for a one-year term, renewable annually.
"Our partnership with Sense Holdings will enable us to move forward efficiently and quickly to develop this breakthrough technology to create a new generation of truly miniature real time detectors for explosives and other threats," said Bruce Warmack, principal investigator for ORNL. "Sense's top management and scientific personnel have already demonstrated strong business commitment and expertise, and we are very excited to be working with them on this important homeland security product development program.
The first-generation product line will be brought to market as an explosives detection device. Subsequent generations would be further developed into comprehensive, multipurpose chemical detectors, capable of sensing a myriad of diverse threats and substances, from top chemical warfare agents to biological agents such as Anthrax, Ricin, Botulinum and others, to many narcotics that are routinely trafficked across U.S. borders, including cocaine, heroine and marijuana.
"There's simply nothing else remotely like this device on the market," Mr. Perler said. "Sense's explosive detection system is designed to set the new standard in terms of both cost, efficiency and effectiveness for various homeland security market segments, including counterterrorism, law enforcement and substance detection of all kinds. Its cutting-edge technology and ease-of-use advantages are expected to be significant selling points for Homeland Security agencies, Customs, Border Patrol, and innumerable other major public and private customers. Sense plans to offer its products as alternatives to today's outdated inconvenient explosive and other detection systems."
Sense has an established umbrella of products that are successfully targeted and deployed to the Homeland Security market, including novel biometric, micro-sensor identification and RFID asset tracking solutions. Its new agreement with Oak Ridge could substantially reinforce its market edge and business strategy for accelerated, high growth revenues vis-a-vis the monetization of its valuable Intellectual Property portfolio. According to specific terms of the agreement, Sense has committed to fund the system's development both at the ORNL and its own world-class research facilities, with a total of $1.1 million, to be divided in monthly payments of about $100,000.
Part of the funds will be dedicated to the hiring of additional scientific and technical personnel at both facilities, to expedite the collaborative development effort. In addition, a combination of U.S. agencies has dedicated about $10 million to ORNL, which will further reinforce the development of the system.
Mr. Perler added, "We will seek to deploy these units to major airports, stadiums, coliseums and the full range of strategic venues and environments that need optimized detection capabilities."
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