the economic downturn may be a godsend for sbn, page-8

Irp,

You said that:

"For me the biggest concern that I have had and still have about SBN is that their IP will eventually be surpassed and frankly it is inevitable that oraline 4 and oraline 8 will be superseeded with a superior saliva test"

This is a reasonable point and always a possibility - in any industry. But, personally, I'm not worried about this in the slightest at this point of time.

Why?

1. Main reason is the Chinese JV. This will be soon 90%+ of SBN's business. After an exhaustive 2 years of working with the MPS on the use of Oraline, the MPS is now happy that the product can meet its stringent requirements in law enforcement. Accordingly, it has issued a Quality Standard and ordered all available product from SBL (i.e. the 20,000 units not earmarked for other customers). The MPS simply wants a device that works, not a free market with infinite suppliers and choice. SBN is there at the ground floor and is likely to be the 'only show in town' so long as the device continues to do the job, even if some other company comes up with something better. (That is, they will not want to go through a 2-year assessment process again unless it is really necessary)

2. For the rest of the world, Oraline is well covered by patents (5) that will help to keep them ahead of potential competition for many years to come (e.g. Avitar)

3. My understanding is that the technology that allows Oraline to detect THC down to 4ng/ml (compared to the 2nd best 12ng/ml) is part genius (on the part of Dr Sun) and part 'accident'. That is, the 'discovery' ocurred through a process that Dr Sun would find difficult , if not impossible, to replicate. There are many, much larger companies than SBL throwing funds at this and, still, none have been able to get near 4ng/ml detection (so Oraline has been for some time and remains the only device to meet SAMSHA guideleines for THC cut-offs)

4. Oraline 8, with its cutting edge saliva collection technology (also to be patented) will put the competition even more into the shade. It will be the most exciting innovation in the saliva testing market for at least the last 5 years. (I can't wait to see the reaction in the market place)