Since 2003, panic over the H5N1 virus, more commonly known as avian flu, has periodically seized Southeast Asia, where the virus has killed 135 people. Reports of a coming pandemic continue, fueled by concern that the flu could mutate and begin transmitting directly between humans.

Fear can be a great consumer incentive (think terrorism and duct tape), and, over the past two years, the threat of influenza has fueled an increased demand for surgical facemasks in Asia, even when the effectiveness of such masks is called into question. It is a market open to innovation.

The Liberec-based firm Elmarco says it has designed a better mask, using a breakthrough patented technology that allows for the industrial production of nanofibers — light and strong textilelike materials composed of microscopic polymer tubes. The system is called Nanospider.

The firm is now in contact with more than 100 companies worldwide interested in the application of Nanospider, said Pavel Novotný, chief operating officer of Elmarco.

But breakthrough technology does not always equal commercial success, and Elmarco is now searching for a way to turn a great idea into a great moneymaker.

Over the past year, the 160-person company has expanded its attempt to find commercial applications for their technology. In May, it launched a Japanese subsidiary to find a buyer for its face masks, and last month it created a new Czech-based joint venture with Alltracel, an Irish pharmaceutical firm that specializes in the blood-clotting chemicals used in adhesive bandages.

On Nov. 14, the two firms announced a six-month development partnership with "one of the top players worldwide" in the wound-care market. Novotný said he could not elaborate.

Elmarco is the only company in the country producing nanofiber materials, according to the Industry and Trade Ministry. Its work on Nanospider is co-sponsored by the state and the European Fund for Regional Development.

Origin of the species

Two years ago, Elmarco was flush with cash from its successful work producing specialized machinery for the semiconductor giant SEZ, and the firm was looking to expand. One of its first stops was its neighbor, the Technical University of Liberec.

"They came to the university at the right moment," said Oldřich Jirsák, the professor who developed what would become Nanospider. His team holds a worldwide patent on the technology, which it has exclusively licensed to Elmarco.

Electrospinning, the technique underpinning Nanospider, has remained largely unchanged since its discovery over 60 years ago. Polymers forced through a syringe and metallic needle are exposed to a high-voltage electric current. The needle's charge causes the polymer droplets to deform into cones that then whip out in a super-fine electrified liquid jet at about 300 miles per hour (480 kph). The strand then collects on a grounded plate like a pile of nano spaghetti.

But because it was so labor intensive, the technique did not lend itself to industrial applications.

Jirsák's epiphany was that the electrified cones formed in electrospinning could originate not only from droplets but also from a fine layer of polymer solution. With that, the needle and syringe were rendered unnecessary and could be replaced by a rolling cylinder, half-immersed in polymer. Cones would then continuously erupt in tandem down the electrified cylinder's length, allowing the large-scale production of fibers composed of microscopic polymer strands.

"One machine can produce millions of square meters of nanofibers each year" at widths of up to 1.6 meters (5.3 feet), Jirsák said.

James Clements, head of NanoSciences, Inc., a small U.S. firm focused on European nanotechnology, said that Jirsák's discovery was "brilliant."

He has heard of no other firm with similar technology. "The [potential] applications are absolutely staggering," he said.

Commercial application

Elmarco's initial business model was to remain a research consultant to its clients, who work in the sound-absorption, healthcare, and air-and-water-filtration industries.

Its research department of 25 people would guide the client to ways Nanospider could improve existing products. If a match were made, Elmarco would then sell the industrial machines necessary for mass production.

Novotný said Elmarco changed strategies after realizing that the company could design first-hand products that could top current market leaders on both features and price.

This led to the company's first independent consumer products: surgical facemasks and a new material for sound absorption. The masks include two layers of nanofibers, one that sanitizes and another that is a dense weave tight enough to block viruses.

Independent tests found the masks 99.9 percent effective. The sound-absorbing material is three times lighter than standard and does particularly well at absorbing sounds below 1,000 hertz.

Elmarco is in negotiations with buyers for both products, and Novotný expects them to reach market next year.

The company also has high hopes for its work with Alltracel, which it targeted as a client from the beginning. The two companies collaborated for two years before officially launching their joint venture, Nanopeutics, improving both the airflow and healing effect of Alltracel's bandages.

"Elmarco wants to remain focused on research and development," Novotný said, and so, while products improved by nanofibers will begin to enter the market, his company's public profile will remain low.