SOMETIMES it doesn't pay to order up too much stationery....

SOMETIMES it doesn't pay to order up too much stationery. Shareholders in Helicon discovered that as the name first morphed into Consegna and is in the process of changing again to Rhinomed. The name changes have all marked different directions for the company, with Rhinomed recognising a sharper focus on nasal therapies. Since getting his feet under the chief executive's desk in February, experienced biotechnology marketer Michael Johnson has been reformatting the company around nasal technology with the imminent release of a sports product called turbine followed by snoring and well-being products in 2014.

"It is a horrible feeling to be running a company where the money is running down and nothing is coming in so I have been focused on getting revenue in the door,'' said Michael.

"You can wait around and hope someone buys the idea from you or you can start selling it yourself and in this case I think getting a successful product to market is going to enhance the value of our products.'' The main concept of turbine is to increase the airflow through the nose with tests showing a 38 per cent improvement. Nasal breathing has several benefits, providing warm, filtered air to the lungs and also releasing oxygen-enhancing nitrous oxide into the bloodstream via the sinuses. "I have given several packs to a cyclist friend for his group to trial but he has decided to keep them all for himself because it gives him an advantage over the others,'' said Michael.

By selling on the internet on www.theturbine.com, Michael is hoping that performance advantage over breathing strips will see the popularity of the device increase rapidly as the company works on variations to improve snoring and deliver inhalable medications.

It is a massive market with Glaxo Smith Kline acquiring the Breathe Right strips business for US$566 million in 2007 so it is certainly possible that the turbine will rev up Rhinomed's performance.

Some of the other products in the old Consegna portfolio are now gone but the Vibrovein reduced pain needle is still being developed.

The soon to be renamed Rhinomed remains a speculative buy by a nose. Another new but promising technology is about to face the acid test as Carnegie Wave Energy's first "wave farm'' is installed off Garden Island, south of Perth. By early 2014 renewable power should be flowing into the HMAS Stirling naval base as a set of three 240 kW submerged buoys start pumping high pressure water ashore to a hydro generator as they are moved by the waves.

Like most renewable power devices, this is unlikely to be grid competitive immediately - particularly if you factor in the $70 million of development costs - but the system's ability to desalinate water when not producing electricity is unique.

For islands that are surrounded by wave power, it is not hard to imagine future units being much cheaper to run than expensive diesel generation and desalination.

Chief executive Dr Michael Ottaviano said international interest has been very strong with French power giant EDF using the technology in a joint venture and the UK also very interested in employing the next generation of the technology called SETO 6, which will at least double the power output of each unit.

Other things in Carnegie's favour are a very experienced board which includes Hastings Funds Management founder and large shareholder Mike Fitzpatrick and wind energy pioneer and former Pacific Hydro chief executive Jeff Harding plus the use of a lot of off the shelf oil-rig parts. A risky speculative buy with a green tinge.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/in-the-black/name-changes-put-consegna-ahead-by-a-nose/story-fni0d787-1226731145693