Spokane biotech concern GenPrime Inc. has signed a contract with global water-treatment giant Nalco Co. under which GenPrime will receive $1 million up front and Nalco will have exclusive rights to distribute GenPrimes yeast-testing technology internationally in the biofuel and brewing industries.


GenPrime says the pact with Nalco, which is based in the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Ill. also includes a joint development agreement to automate the technology, which is used to test the health of yeast to improve efficiency in the production of ethanol fuel from corn as well as in brewing alcoholic beverages. Nalco provides water-treatment and process-improvement products to 70,000 customers in 130 countries.


Darby McLean, vice president of GenPrime, says the Spokane company expects the contract to lead to increased orders and production right away, and anticipates it could sell up to 50 of the systems in the U.S. over the next year. The systems generally sell for $7,000 to $8,000, but Nalco likely will sell them as part of a suite of products.


McLean says GenPrime can increase its production of the product without hiring additional employees, but might add staff members in its research-and-development department. GenPrime currently employs 15 people, three of whom work in R&D. GenPrime is located at 157 S. Howard.


The companys yeast tests are performed by adding an individual test sample to a glass vial containing a chemical solution that becomes fluorescent when metabolized by yeast cells. A handheld reader is then used to measure how much yeast is active in the sample.


Under the new contract, the system will be distributed as part of Nalcos 3D TRASAR product line. GenPrime designed the system, which it originally called Easy Count, and produces the chemicals for the system at its Spokane facility. It contracts out production of the readers. Customers buy additional testing solution from GenPrime to use with the readers, McLean says.


Automation of the system would allow much larger operations, such as commercial breweries, to use it without having to draw individual samples by hand, she says.


In the agreement, Nalco has exclusive worldwide rights to market to brewing and ethanol production companies both the handheld and automated technology the companies develop, McLean says. Meanwhile, GenPrime will have the right to market directly both the current system and the planned automated one to the pharmaceutical industry, she says. GenPrime hopes that automating the system will help it sell the testing systems to pharmaceutical companies that produce antibiotics on a large scale.


McLean says entering into agreements with large companies such as Nalco helps GenPrime raise capital for research and development. It has a similar agreement with North Carolina-based Scott Health & Safety, a division of the global conglomerate Tyco International Ltd., for distribution of the Prime Alert Biodetection System, a quick-testing device for dangerous bacteria and toxins, such as anthrax, typhoid fever, and ricin.


GenPrime is preparing to launch another product soon, called BacSTAT. BacSTAT detects the presence of bacteria in blood platelets in about five minutes through a dipsticklike device that analyzes bacterial content in fluid at one end and displays the results on a screen at the other end.