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Oral of the Story
Flush with venture bucks, company hopes to make new toothpaste in North Haven
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Business New Haven
1/10/2000
By: BNH
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As a member of the Marine Corps Presidential honor guard, Derrick Johns of Bristol protected the nation's chief executive. Now, he's protecting teeth.
The 30-year-old investment banker teamed up with a group of Washington state-based dentists and researchers to capitalize a new company, BioGlobe Technologies Inc., and market its "revolutionary" new oral hygiene product.
Scheduled to hit drugstore and supermarket shelves later this year, Hysep toothpaste contains anti-microbial ingredients and enzyme blockers which bond to the teeth as a protective shield, preventing corrosives from attaching to the teeth and thus discouraging plaque buildup.
BioGlobe's principals calculated they had in Hysep a potential winner. What they lacked were the contacts and sales savvy to capitalize the company and bring the product to market.
Enter Johns, who hit the streets early last year armed with a box of the toothpaste and a video to target venture capitalists. The see-for-yourself sales pitch helped Johns to secure $850,000 in financing from New England sources in his first six months. Three months later, he hit the jackpot: some $25 million from private investors in Florida and Texas. "Once people tried Hysep, they knew it was unlike any other toothpaste on the market, and they just took out their checkbooks," says Johns, who has since been named BioGlobe's chief operating officer.
The company plans to build an administrative and manufacturing facility in North Haven, which it hopes will be operational by next January. BioGlobe officials are close to securing a parcel of land on which a build-to-suit facility will go up later in the year, company officials say.
Howmet To Reclaim Ownership of Joint Venture
Howmet Corp. of Greenwich announced December 20 its intention to acquire Komatsu's remaining interest in their Japanese joint venture company, Komatsu-Howmet Ltd. (KHL). Howmet presently owns an 81-percent interest, with Komatsu holding the remainder prior to the acquisition.
Howmet is the world's largest manufacturer of precision castings, primarily for jet aircraft and industrial gas turbine engines. The company and its affiliates operate 29 production facilities in North America, Europe and Japan.
According to Howmet President David Squier, "We believe that KHL's operations and business relations have matured to the point where KHL can stand on its own, without the additional support [that] the joint venture provided."
New 'Cluster' Takes Wing
A group of 12 Connecticut aerospace components manufacturers (ACMs) have joined forces to form the state's newest industry "cluster." Actually a sub-cluster of a larger (but yet-to-be-established) aerospace cluster, the new group will concentrate on helping ACMs increase productivity at an accelerated rate as well as address key workforce issues. More information is available by calling 860-633-5582.
Turning Down the Heat
Peter Paul Electronics Co. of New Britain has announced the introduction of an encapsulated diode space coil for its Series 15 solenoid valves. The new technology allows a full-wave bridge to be embedded into the valve coil assembly, which permits a DC valve to be driven by common AC voltages. Each valve's coil houses a diode circuit that converts common 50/60 Hz voltage to DC, which eliminates the in-rush current associated with AC valves which can create excessive heat build-up. The valves are used in a wide range of hospital and laboratory applications. The 55-year-old Peter Paul manufactures a wide range of standard and miniature solenoid valves sold through a worldwide distributor network.
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