Nasal Defense guru fights off ‘Sharks’ on the way to product success
Seven years ago, Joe Moore nearly left the Shark Tankempty-handed.
Seven years later, his entrepreneurial acumen has its own impressive teeth.
Moore was all but laughed off the stage while presenting his nasal screen product on the TV show in 2011. But he found vindication when the sharks offered $4 million and a 10 percent lifetime royalty – a record for the show – to buy the entire business after discovering he already had an order for $8 million.
That sale offer was rejected, but Moore did agree on a joint offer from Kevin O’Leary, Daymond John and Mark Cuban for $750,000, a 30-percent stake in the business and a 10-percent perpetual royalty – along with season tickets to the NBA team Cuban owns, the Dallas Mavericks.
“My biggest surprise (from appearing on the show) — besides all the traffic and orders and interest — is how many people contacted me from around the world after they saw (the show) in their country,” Moore said. “Also, how many people recognized me when I was traveling.
“One guy recognized me at my hotel in Hong Kong. He was from Madrid, a renowned designer, and when someone tried to introduce me he said, ‘I know him—he’s my hero. He’s a celebrity; he turned down the largest contract in TV history.’ It made me really realize how much ‘Shark Tank’ had done for us, how vast an audience it has, and what a small world it is.”
The purchase order and contract that prompted the sharks to want to buy the company was signed by former secretary of state and two-time presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and indicated interest in the product from the United Arab Emirates. Pollution threatens the UAE population and the country ultimately became one of more than three dozen where the product has become hugely popular.
These days, Moore’s company – First Defense Nasal Screens International – is based in New Port Richey, Florida. One of its products, Nasal Defense, retails for $9.98 for a week’s supply of seven sets and membership subscriptions for $35 per month can be found at FilterYourLife.com.
Nasal Defense screens are nostril-shaped clear adhesive filters that fit over each nostril and trap up to 99 percent of the particles that are breathed in. The woven poly blend shield does not hold moisture and is up to 92 percent effective at 1 micron – or comparison’s sake, small respiratory droplets are 1-5 microns.
“When a person sneezes, respiratory droplets stay in the air for 6-8 hours where they can be breathed in by the next passing nose,” Moore said. “This is one major way respiratory viruses are spread.”
Because up to 90 percent of the air a human breathes comes through the nose and respiratory viruses such as flus and colds grow in nasal passages, a personal air filtration system serves as a practical tool to reduce exposure. The product has become so popular that doctors are prescribing it, miners, steel workers, construction and travel industry employees use it, too, as well as those who suffer from multiple chemical sensitivities. Additionally, more than 50 percent of Nasal Defense screens sold are used for those who suffer from allergies.
“The statistics are staggering,” Moore said. “I realized that if could tap into the $365 billion spent on allergies in the U.S. alone, I would be making a huge difference in the world. As I looked more carefully, I learned that more heart attacks are caused by air pollution than everything put together in the world.”
According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology:
- Allergic rhinitis, often called hay fever, affects approximately 50 million people in the United States, and its prevalence is increasing — affecting as many as 30 percent of adults and up to 40 percent of children.
- 6 million adults and 6.6 million children were diagnosed with hay fever in 2012, the last time statistics were updated.
- More than 13.4 million visits to physician offices, hospital outpatient departments and emergency departments were due to allergic rhinitis.
- People with perennial allergic rhinitis experience symptoms year-round. It is generally caused by sensitivity to house dust mites, animal dander, cockroaches and/or mold spores.
- Allergic diseases, which include asthma, are the fifth most prevalent chronic diseases in all ages, and the third most common in children.
“The statistics are staggering,” Moore said.
The Economist recently reported that in India respiratory ailments soared fourfold between 2008 and 2015 and the number of early deaths caused by toxic air are expected to exceed 600,000 a year.
First Defense nasal screens are set to be sold in more than 40,000 U.S. stores by the end of 2018 — including supermarkets, pharmacies, doctor’s offices and commercial vendors — and are also sold in more than 40 other countries. They can also be found and purchased on Amazon in the U.S.
Midway through 2017, Moore’s company entered an exclusive joint venture with Filter Your Life Healthcare Private Ltd. in India, granting the Indian company exclusive distribution rights in the world’s second-most populous country.
“They are the only authorized distributor in India,” Moore said. “We are aware of a few other companies making false claims that they invented it and or have rights to use and sell our technology. One has gone as far as stating that they invented it through IIT Delhi in India, yet we have emails from them to a manufacturer showing our original patent prints and videos with a request for manufacturing.
“This will not be tolerated and we will do everything in our means to make sure it doesn’t. I cannot believe they even credited the university in their claim and press release opening liability to and from the university itself.”
The company has received patents in more than 50 countries since 2006, including Japan, China, Canada and all of Europe.