Flight Safety Announces Licensing of Technology from University of Tennessee Research Foundation
11 Août 2008 - 3:57PM
Business Wire
Flight Safety Technologies, Inc. (AMEX:FLT) announced today that on
August 7, 2008, it executed a letter of intent with the University
of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) for the licensing of patent
rights related to atmospheric glow plasma technology. The agreement
provides for exclusive worldwide rights to commercialize the
technology in all but a few fields of use. The letter of intent
provides for an initial license fee payable in common stock of the
company with a value based on the average of the stock's closing
price for the 20 days previous to the execution of the license
agreement and minimum annual royalty payments starting in year two.
Additionally, in a related transaction, the company has purchased
the assets of the previous licensee of this technology, Atmospheric
Glow Technologies, Inc. (AGT). These assets include essential
instrument prototypes, engineering drawings, test equipment and a
variety of facility related assets. The payment for the assets is
$125,000 cash and $200,000 payable in common stock of the company
with a value based on the average of the stock's closing price
between August 7, 2008 and the closing date. The closing of the
licensing transaction is subject to the completion and execution of
a formal license agreement with UTRF, which is expected to be
signed on or before August 31, 2008. In connection with the
licensing transaction, the company also intends to lease space in
Knoxville, Tennessee for development of products under the license
and hire several key employees of the prior licensee. To develop
products under the licensed technology and bring products to
market, the company expects it will require approximately $2.5
million of new working capital which it expects to obtain through a
private placement of its securities. There can be no guaranty or
assurance whether or when the company will succeed in bringing any
products to market, the revenue or profits generated by such
products, or the overall financial impact of this initiative on the
company and the value of its common stock. Joe Luca, Flight
Safety's Chairman commented, "Over the course of the past year,
Flight Safety Technologies has been considering various strategies
to grow the company. Our current research and development
technologies continue to suffer from a lack of continued government
or private third party funding. Lack of funding has had an adverse
impact on our ability to develop our current aviation and security
related technologies. To address this situation, our board of
directors has undertaken an effort to identify potential
diversifying, technology-based acquisitions that we believe will
reduce our current reliance on our current technologies, enhance
our shareholders' value, and provide better opportunity for
profitable operations in the near term. We believe the licensing of
patent rights from UTRF and acquisition of key assets from
Atmospheric Glow Technologies for this exciting technology is a
significant step in our growth strategy. AGT has worked hard for a
number of years in developing this technology to the point where we
believe several products can be commercialized and released to the
market within the first year or two." Luca also added, "We're also
very excited about our new relationship with UTRF. We appreciate
the quality of technical capability that resides at the University,
and look forward to continuing and expanding upon this relationship
in the future." The licensed technology was developed at the
University of Tennessee (UT). Atmospheric glow discharge plasma is
a breakthrough technology that produces tailored plasma chemistry
for a wide range of applications, such as air purification,
materials processing, decontamination, sterilization, and many
others. The company believes that these applications can create
market opportunities that cover Homeland Security, health care,
process control, and environmental protection, remediation and
control. The University of Tennessee Research Foundation is
chartered with managing all intellectual property developed at UT.
According to Fred Tompkins, President and CEO of UTRF, "One of our
key objectives is to find quality partners that have the capability
and experience to successfully commercialize technology developed
at the University of Tennessee. We're excited to work with Flight
Safety Technologies to turn our plasma technologies into products
and services that will benefit both our region and society, as a
whole." The company also announced that new senior management will
manage the newly acquired technology. The Board of Directors has
elected Kenneth Wood to be CEO and Richard Rosenfeld to be CFO/VP
Operations upon completion of the transaction to manage the new
line of business and oversee the overall growth plan for FST, due
to their experience in growing early stage technology companies.
Mr. Wood and Mr. Rosenfeld were the president and CFO/VP
Operations, respectively for Barringer Technologies, Inc, a NASDAQ
technology company, which grew from $500K in sales to $160M at the
time they left the company after it sold to an international
conglomerate in 2001. Mr. Wood was on the Board of FST from 2003
through November 2007 and has a solid understanding of FST's core
aviation and security technologies. The current FST management team
will continue to pursue FST's aviation and security related
technologies. According to Luca, the company is pursuing various
arrangements to fund the development of those technologies, while
also taking actions to reduce expenses. The company has submitted a
detailed unsolicited proposal to the FAA for funding further
development and testing of its AWSM� system and is awaiting a
response. The company also has had and is pursuing discussions with
potential corporate partners to explore their interest in
developing the company's UNICORN� and TIICM� technologies. There
can be no assurance as to whether, when or on what terms any of
these efforts will be achieved or the outcome of any such future
development. Safe Harbor statement under the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward
looking statements identified by the use of words such as should,
believes, plans, goals, expects, may, will, objectives, missions,
or the negative thereof, other variations thereon or comparable
terminology. Such statements are based on currently available
information which management has assessed but which is dynamic and
subject to rapid change due to risks and uncertainties that affect
our business, including, but not limited to, the limited resources
of the company and availability of capital to fund operations and
research and development, whether the government will implement a
wake vortex avoidance system at all or with the inclusion of a
SOCRATES� wake vortex sensor or AWSM� technology, the impact of
competitive products and pricing, limited visibility into future
product demand, slower economic growth generally, difficulties
inherent in the development of complex technology, new products
sufficiency, fluctuations in operating results, and other risks
detailed from time to time in Flight Safety Technologies, Inc.'s
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any statements
that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions,
expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, goals,
assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of
historical fact and should be considered forward looking
statements. Forward looking statements involve a number of risks
and uncertainties which could cause actual results or events to
differ materially from those presently anticipated.
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