There are a number of companies that make antimicrobial sponges.
I might ask the question: Why buy anything other than perhaps the IP,if available. Purchcasing everything else after the fact would be much more prudent, since you are not incurring any bad will, or existing debt.
The second question I would want to know is how viable of a market does the product have? If 99% of the sales were "bogus," I am not sure there is a business enterprise there worth investing in.
Third question: Is there any foreign companies doing something similar already. If the answer is yes, then they might be best postioned to move into whatever market there might be... If, no, back to question #2.