Uh, Oh, Hypoallergenic Kitties MAY Be a Fraud!

[Tuckerfan]

Apparently, nobody’s seen the kitties!

Lyons isn’t the only one scratching her head over the lack of peer review of Allerca’s claims. “There’s a lot of skepticism in the academic community about whether or not these cats are hypoallergenic,” says Martin Chapman, a former professor of Medicine and Microbiology at the University of Virginia and the founder of Indoor Biotechnologies, a company that designs allergy tests. “We’ve not come across any documented scientific study that this is a real phenomenon.”

Compounding the scientific skepticism are the many failed and sometimes-fraudulent business endeavors of Allerca’s founder and chairman, a convicted criminal named Simon Brodie. Hot air balloons, glow-in-the-dark deer, the world’s most powerful computer, and knockout, allergen-free cats have all collapsed despite Brodie’s public optimism and legal issues often trail behind these entrepreneurial efforts.

Lots more in the article, like how they don’t disclose the location of the company and that some of the tests they’ve done to prove the hypoallergenic nature of the cats fail to meet scientific rigor.

[twickster]

So you’re saying the Brodie Perpetual Motion machine I paid good money for might not actually work?

Damn.

[Mindfield]

Weren’t they supposed to be shipping (so to speak) these cats already? I seem to recall they were taking pre-orders (or at least pre-registrations) for them such that the waiting list had grown to something like two years.

Not that there isn’t every chance that this is just more smoke and mirrors, of course.

Ah yes, here is one such article regarding pre-purchases and waiting lists, which also launches into the dubious nature of Simon Brodie, Allerca, and his mysterious hypokitties. Apparently they now claim there’s only a one-year wait in the OP-linked article.\

Probably the most telling portion of the article is that this is not the first time he’s tried the “allergen-free cats” thing:

@OP Article

Similarly, one of Brodie’s former companies, Geneticas, claimed it would provide customers an allergy-free cat based on RNAi and had already accepted hundreds of nonrefundable $250 deposits. Geneticas also predicted it could bring the cost of cloning a cat below $10,000. The cats never came and Geneticas disappeared (see “Doubts About Allergy-Free Cats” and “Cloning for Profit,” The Scientist, Jan. 31, 2005).

Either he might have had something the first time around with Geneticas and simply couldn’t perfect and deliver, hoping he’ll get it right this time under Allerca, or he’s just pulling the same scam under a different name.

[Sapo]

I bet they work wonders if you happen to be allergic to money