about 80 percent (willpower). We just will shit to happen, and the quality of the idea drives the level of success.”
Sapphire Energy gained wide attention last May when it announced it had proven the feasibility of using algae to produce “green crude” that was chemically identical to crude oil. Sapphire said its algal crude, unlike ethanol, can be transported through the nation’s fuel pipeline infrastructure and can be processed at any petroleum refinery.
Sapphire Energy CEO Jason Pyle predicts his company will begin selling algae-based biofuels in commercial markets in three to five years. “But I think it will be some time before we will make a mark in an industry selling 20 billion barrels a day.”
As for continuing to drive Sapphire’s business development amid the recession, Pyle said, “We’re all scared of things that have happened recently. But empirically, investing in business during an economic downturn has always been the right thing to do. From my perspective, everything has gotten cheaper. For example, putting concrete and steel in the ground has gotten 30 percent cheaper, so my goal is to put a lot of concrete and steel in the ground” in Las Cruces, NM, where Sapphire is building its production facilities.
In announcing Novalar’s first product launch, CFO Robert Stefanovich said its OraVerse dental anesthesia reversal agent was San Diego’s only biotech product to win approval last year from the Food and Drug Administration. “I think we had about a day of celebration after we received FDA approval, and then we started getting calls from our VCs,” Stefanovich said. He told the audience yesterday it is the only drug that reverses the effects of dental anesthesia, which leaves dental patients looking and speaking like Rocky Balboa.
The startup has raised almost $70 million since it was founded in 2000, including about $30 million in late 2007 to fund the anticipated launch of OraVerse.
To support the commercialization of OraVerse, Stefanovich says Novalar hired 28 sales executives to coordinate sales in six key regions of the United States. The company plans to expand its sales and marketing efforts throughout the country in about six months, but right now, Stefanovich says, “We’re going after the top 20 percent of dentists in those regions.”
