SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PURE Bioscience, Inc. (OTCQB: PURE), creator of the patented non-toxic silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC) antimicrobial, announced that the Company had received and shipped its first order for FDA approved PURE Control® antimicrobial for application directly onto produce during processing. A leading produce processor will now apply PURE Control as an added intervention step to eliminate pathogens causing foodborne illness, including E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella.
Phased Rollout
PURE expects a phased rollout of PURE Control to the processor’s network of 12 plants nationally over the next 12-18 months. The roll out begins with use line-by-line at the first plant, and then into subsequent plants also on a line-by-line basis. This order marks PURE’s first sale into a new $300+ million US produce processing aids market. The Company’s goal is to capture a +10% share of that market.
Additional produce processors are in various stages of testing PURE Control, and testing results to date have been positive. The Company estimates that sales of PURE Control to the average produce processing plant can generate approximately $1 million in annual sales per plant/year.
The sales cycle for PURE Control will continue to involve varying amounts of validation and optimization testing by each customer. This first adopting processor successfully completed extensive efficacy and organoleptic testing of PURE Control over the past eighteen months. As more processors adopt PURE Control, PURE expects customer testing cycles will take substantially less time – likely over a period of several months.
Superior Protection
Processors typically seek a 1 log reduction in pathogens from an intervention or processing aid. The testing at this leading processor consistently exceeded expectations, indicating pathogen reductions averaging 3 logs – or 99.9%.
This processor, and each of the other produce processors who are currently testing PURE Control in their own facilities, are existing customers using PURE® Hard Surface disinfectant, and therefore are already aware of and receiving the superior benefits of SDC. These processors are using PURE Hard Surface for environmental, plant, and equipment surface disinfection as a replacement for less effective and toxic legacy products.
Hank R. Lambert, CEO of PURE, said, “Obtaining our first PURE Control order from a produce industry leader is truly a catalytic milestone for PURE. With produce, and leafy greens in particular, being the leading source of foodborne illness in the US, there is a clear and immediate market need for the proven superior efficacy of SDC in the form of PURE Control. With this validation from a leading processor, we believe we can achieve meaningful market penetration in the coming months.”
About PURE Bioscience, Inc.
PURE Bioscience, Inc. is focused on developing and commercializing our proprietary antimicrobial products primarily in the food safety arena – providing solutions to the health and environmental challenges of pathogen and hygienic control. Our technology platform is based on patented stabilized ionic silver, and our initial products contain silver dihydrogen citrate, or SDC. SDC is a broad-spectrum, non-toxic antimicrobial agent, which offers 24-hour residual protection and formulates well with other compounds. As a platform technology, SDC is distinguished from existing products in the marketplace because of its superior efficacy, reduced toxicity and it mitigates bacterial resistance. PURE is headquartered in El Cajon, California (San Diego metropolitan area). Additional information on PURE is available at www.purebio.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the Company’s failure to implement or otherwise achieve the benefits of its proposed business initiatives and plans; acceptance of the Company's current and future products and services in the marketplace, including the Company’s ability to convert successful evaluations and tests into customer orders, the timing of customer testing and orders, customers continuing to place product orders as expected and to expand their use of the Company’s products throughout their operations; the ability of the Company to develop effective new products and receive required regulatory approvals for such products, including the required data and regulatory approvals required to use its SDC-based technology as a direct food contact processing aid in raw meat processing and to expand its use in OLR poultry processing; competitive factors; dependence upon third-party vendors, including to manufacture its products; and other risks detailed in the Company's periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), including its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2016, its Form 10-Q for the first quarter ended October 31, 2016 and its Form 10-Q for the second quarter ended January 31, 2017. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release.