By Melanie Feuk From Chron

Kingwood residents and co-founders of Verdegen, LLC, envision mosquito repellent dispensers being available in public places worldwide for free, easy access to repellent and protection against mosquito-borne disease. This is an example of Verdegen’s parks and recreation dispenser model, which differs from the models to be used in the Cayman Islands.
Jacob Hargrave and Dean Crockett often sit and discuss their vision to change the way people around the world have access to mosquito repellent on the balcony outside their office in Kingwood Town Center.
Last year, as the world prepared for the Olympic Games in Rio, another global topic was demanding media attention.
“At the time, the news, everybody, was talking about Zika and mosquitoes,” Hargrave said.
This prompted Crockett to ask the question: Why isn’t mosquito repellent as available as hand sanitizer?
“In most of the world, mosquitoes are a matter of life and death,” Crockett said. “Mosquitoes are the most dangerous animal on the planet. They kill more people every year than every other animal combined, including people killing people. This is a global public health issue.”
Their solution was to create a mosquito repellent dispenser that could be strategically placed in public areas worldwide for free and easy access to life-saving mosquito repellent.
Eight months later, Verdegen LLC, is on its way to revolutionizing the mosquito repellent business.
They started by reaching out to their friend Chris Paladino, a retired executive with the American Red Cross. Together, they began a 501c3 and began searching for a dispensable mosquito repellent formula.
“We looked high and low for anything that would work in a dispenser,” Hargrave said. “There was nothing like a quick-evaporating gel or anything that would work in there.”
They realized they would have to create a dispensable formula if their vision was going to work. That was the point at which they decided the venture would be better served if Verdegen operated as a corporation.
“Our vision is that every public place will have mosquito repellent waiting for you – just like hand sanitizer or soap,” Hargrave said. “If it’s all based on charity, yes, we’ll do pretty well and we’ll get dispensers out here or there, but if we really want to make an impact, we’ve got to make it a profitable venture.”
The nonprofit still exists. Crockett said they intend to set up their corporation so they can legally use a portion of the profits to fund the charity in order to make these units available to communities in need.
They started reaching out to the public health community to gauge reaction to their concept.
“We have some assumptions that this public access model will meet the needs of the public health community – the people who are trying to solve the problems of mosquito-borne diseases,” Crockett said. “So we were asking not only ‘Will you buy it?’ but also ‘When you buy it, does this actually solve a problem?'”
Hargrave said overwhelmingly, the answer was “Yes.”
Before moving to their office in Town Center, Hargrave and Crockett began experimenting with different ingredients for their formula in Hargrave’s garage. Initially, the formula they created was a botanical solution. However, at the advisement of industry professionals, they decided to make the main ingredient DEET.
“In the public health world, DEET is the gold standard,” Crockett said. “They know it works. They know it’s safe for pregnant women. They know it’s safe for children over two months of age. It is just the single most effective thing that is out there.”
Using EPA-approved ingredients helped them cut down on the weight of regulatory burden, but by no means eliminated it.
“From ordering the ingredients to having a finished product that we can sell, everything is EPA-compatible, and we’re just going through the paperwork with the EPA to make it EPA approved,” Crockett said.
Hargrave said this can be a year-long process or longer.
“What we’ve decided to do is: In that year while we’re waiting to work within the U.S. regulatory framework, we will help as many people around the world as we can,” Hargrave said.
The sooner people have access to repellent, the more total people will be helped over time, Crockett said.
“So, those countries where we can get in quickly, we will get in quickly because it’s needed now,” Crockett said.
One of the groups they reached out to was the Mosquito Research and Control Unit (MRCU) of the Cayman Islands.
“We’re starting in the Cayman Islands because they’ve got mosquitoes and the Caribbean’s got a real problem with Zika right now,” Hargrave said. “The MRCU of the Cayman Islands is the flagship mosquito control for all the Caribbean nations. Most of the Caribbean nations look to the MRCU for help.”
Alan Wheeler is the assistant director of the Cayman Islands MRCU and runs the unit’s disease prevention program.
“When I first heard of the idea, I thought it was brilliant in its simplicity,” Wheeler said. “Mosquito repellents are very effective but the problem with them is that, unless you carry a bottle around with you all the time, you don’t have it available when you need it. Having publicly placed dispensers will ensure that you can protect yourself from bites and possible disease transmission when you need to.”
Wheeler conducted efficacy experiments on Verdegen’s mosquito repellent formula to make sure the concentration of DEET used in the product is effective. According to Wheeler, he found it provided 100 percent protection for over four hours.
The MRCU has placed its first order for the product. Verdegen is shipping 20 dispensers and mosquito repellent solution refills to the Cayman Islands to put in hotels, shopping centers and public places as a pilot program to study, research and gather data on public use.
Wheeler hopes to get the dispensing stations in place before the rainy season starts in June. He hopes this idea will provide a cheap and effective solution to the mosquito problem.
“I am amazed that nobody has thought of this before, as in retrospect it seems like such an obvious idea,” Wheeler said.
According to Crockett, the retail sector of the mosquito repellent market globally is a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry. However, he said, there are billions of dollars annually spent on public health, NGO and government programs related to mosquitoes.
“Our goal is to establish the market, show that this model works and that money can be made in it,” Crockett said. “That’s the thing about capitalism, about commercialism, if there’s money to be made, people will start competing to figure out how they can get more of their units out there, which will ultimately be protecting people.”
Crockett and Hargrave not only accept the inevitability of competition, they welcome it.
“This thing that we’re doing is too big for any one company to do,” Hargrave said. “Our goal is to start that ball rolling. We need to go ahead and show them that it can be done, show them that it should be done, and more importantly, show them how to do it.”
Eventually, Crockett said, it will be more advantageous for companies interested in pursuing this model to just buy Verdegen and have immediate entry into all of the markets Verdegen has already established the regulatory process in.
“Until then, we need to prove to them that this model works,” Hargrave said. “That you can make money helping the poor around the world. We’re using capitalism to help the disenfranchised around the world and the communities in need. We’re very proud of that.”
Mustapha Debboun, director of the mosquito and vector control division at the Harris County Public Health Department, has acted in a consultant capacity, helping to answer questions and provide advice about aspects to consider in the process of bringing this concept to fruition.
His job entails trying to protect and prevent all residents in the city from contracting mosquito-borne diseases, and he said skin-applied repellent is the first line of defense.
“These gentlemen had a good idea,” Debboun said. “A lot of times, companies are just trying to patent a product to make a lot of money, but they’re just trying to come up with an idea to help and protect people.”
Hargrave and Crockett plan to continue moving forward, all while developing with input from global public health professionals and specialists.
Even though they expect this to be a global endeavor, the two Kingwood residents are adamant about keeping the Verdegen headquarters stationed in Kingwood.

For more information, visit www.verdegen.com

IMAGE: Kingwood residents and co-founders of Verdegen, LLC, envision mosquito repellent dispensers being available in public places worldwide for free, easy access to repellent and protection against mosquito-borne disease. This is an example of Verdegen’s parks and recreation dispenser model, which differs from the models to be used in the Cayman Islands. Photo: Courtesy Of Verdegen, LLC

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