XCMR INC — Environmental Protection Agency SBIR Phase I: 3A

Description

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has exposed weaknesses in society’s ability to rapidly respond to a global public health problem. SARS-CoV-2 and variants are highly contagious and can cause mild to extremely severe disease and death. It is believed that the main route for transmission is aerosol droplets naturally discharged from an infected person. XCMR is developing breakthrough respiratory protection from infectious diseases and infection control for pathogens by commercializing a new generation of devices for safe, continuous use utilizing Far UV-C light (222 nm). This shorter wavelength offers effective microbialdisinfection typically associated with conventional germicidal UVC lamps (254 nm) but without the corresponding human health hazards since it does not penetrate the human skin or outer tear layers of the eye. While some companies are using UVC to treat indoor environments, none are focused on protection devices for an individual’s personal workspace. Expected uses of XCMR’s Near-field Infection Protection (NIP) device include biosafety protection during interpersonal interactions in a variety of stationary settings found generally in offices, schools, healthcare, hospitality, retail, transportation and many others. Not only is this is estimated to be a $65+b market opportunity but is also expected to greatly reduce environmental waste from single-use masks, lower incidence and prevalence of respiratory disease (e.g., flu, RSV, hMPV), have potential as a universal safety device akin to seat belts for public health, and be far more capital and time efficient than medical countermeasures (i.e., antibiotics and vaccines). XCMR has assembled a highly experienced team of experts to incorporate this novel technology into a versatile desktop device for the personal protection (e.g., inactivation of microbes present on surfaces and in air surrounding the face and eyes) of those individuals within the controlled irradiation zone created and defined by the placement of the NIP unit. In Phase I, using existing commercial 222 nm excimer light sources from our OEM partner, Eden Park Illumination (EPI), XCMR will design, model, test and deliver a proof of concept (PoC) device that integrates various form-factors of geometry and exposure to achieve rapid microbial inactivation during respiration within the confined near-field spacial environment surrounding an individual. Each iteration of the test plan will be evaluated and optimized for microbial inactivation of surrogate viruses and for efficacy in real?world conditions. A PoC prototype of the optimum design will be produced by the end of Phase I.