BOZEMAN, Mont.— A technology to rapidly and accurately detect and identify bioterror pathogens is the focus of a new business in Bozeman. The business, SensoPath Technologies, Inc., is being developed under a federal grant aimed at home-grown new Montana companies.

SensoPath Technologies is the first company to be launched under a three-year project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Montana State University TechLink Center and its affiliated technology venture center, TechRanch. TechLink and TechRanch identify and assist new technology companies through the project.

SensoPath’s technology, which consists of unique coatings for sensor chips that are fitted to instruments that can be used to detect pathogenic agents including anthrax toxin, botulinum toxin, plague and tularemia bacteria, is on a fast track to market, according to Dr. Brenda Spangler, CEO. Later-stage development of the technology may be used to identify the causes of outbreaks of food and water borne pathogens that sicken people, including cholera, Norwalk virus, E. coli, and Salmonella. The National Institutes of Health recently awarded to SensoPath a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant to further develop this technology.

Dr. Spangler said the pathogen detection technology was developed in response to a growing need for diagnostic kits that can rapidly identify bioterrorism agents on site. Currently, pathogen identification can take from 24 to 48 hours or longer and must be done in a laboratory. SensoPath’s technology can be used in a field-portable kit that can sample and identify pathogens in as little as 15 minutes on the scene, according to Dr. Spangler. “Our technology will give first responders the information they need to begin treating those exposed to pathogens,” Dr. Spangler said. Police, fire-fighters, paramedics, HazMat teams, local hospitals and public health centers are all first responders.

SensoPath Technologies qualified for assistance for several reasons. The fledgling company’s technology was developed in Montana at Montana State University (MSU) and is MSU-licensed. It is a spin-off from MPA Technologies, Inc. of Bozeman, a company that also is developing MSU-licensed technology. Much of the funding for this research was provided by the Department of Defense. SensoPath currently has six employees and is located at TechRanch in Bozeman’s Advanced Technology Park.

Dr. Spangler is the CEO and a majority owner of SensoPath Technologies, meeting another of the NSF project’s aims of assisting women-owned companies in Montana. Dr. Spangler has worked with bacterial protein toxins for the past 17 years and has degrees in biology and chemistry/biochemistry. She is an Associate Research Professor at MSU.

About SensoPath Technologies
SensoPath Technologies is located in Bozeman’s Advanced Technology Park at 910 Technology Blvd., Suite A, Bozeman, MT 59718. Phone is (406) 585-8192. Web address is: www.sensopath.com. SensoPath’s online store featuring chemicals for the assembly of bioactive surfaces has just been launched. Manufacturers of biosensor instruments, medical diagnostic instruments or kits, biomedical research labs, and university research centers are encouraged to visit the website for more information.

About Partnerships for Innovation program
Montana Business Foundry: Tech Ventures in a Rural State is a three-year grant funded by the National Science Foundation. The goal of the grant program is to create more high-tech businesses in Montana and to nurture them through private-public partnerships. The grant’s partners include the MSU TechLink Center, Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, Technology Venture Center (parent company of TechRanch), and the Center for Entrepreneurship for the New West in the MSU College of Business.

CONTACTS:

Will Swearingen
MSU TechLink
(406) 994-7704
wds@montana.edu

Dr. Brenda Spangler
CEO, SensoPath Technologies,
(406) 585-8192

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