What if the most dangerous thing in a hospital room is the air itself?
Gary Kellstrom Jr. spent 17 years in the medical device industry before betting everything on one idea. He is founder and CEO of Geared Power Biotech, the Wayne, New Jersey startup behind BioGuard UVC, a wearable device that inactivates airborne pathogens in exhaled breath before they reach anyone else.
With J. Michael Fischer Jr., Gary explains why he stopped trying to filter the air and started attacking the source. They get into the pivot from a transmission prototype to a pandemic era mask, the FDA Safer Technologies Program, a previous exit that went wrong, and the hard middle of holding patents, awards, and congressional support with no revenue yet. Gary also opens up about his years as a Skip Barber racing driver and what racing at the limit taught him about control.
If you want to see what conviction looks like before the win is guaranteed, this is the founder story most people never hear in real time. Listen now.
Timestamped Highlights
[00:00] – The wearable device built to neutralize pathogens in your breath before they reach anyone else
[02:50] – What 17 years inside a medical device giant really taught him
[08:28] – The dinner where three neighbors handed him 90,000 dollars without being asked
[09:34] – The pandemic pivot that turned a transmission company into a biotech
[10:08] – The previous exit that got reverse engineered out from under him
[10:58] – Why losing control on paper can still leave you in control
[13:52] – How the mask works, and why the chambers matter more than the light
[15:06] – The UVC dose that kills Covid, and the 10 times more he applies
[17:11] – The emergency room problem that got doctors excited
[18:25] – Every win you can imagine, and still pre-revenue. How he holds it together
[22:00] – The FDA path that skips the clinical trial, and why it matters
[24:09] – From hot rods to pro racing, and where the obsession started
[28:43] – What racing at the limit taught him about running a company
[31:39] – The hospital statistic that makes the whole market obvious
[36:32] – The small decision that quietly changed everything
Mentioned Resources
About the Guest
Gary Kellstrom Jr. is the founder and CEO of Geared Power Biotech, a Wayne, New Jersey medical device startup developing BioGuard UVC, a wearable, filter free device that uses germicidal UVC light to inactivate airborne pathogens in exhaled breath at the source. A mechanical engineer and Stevens Institute of Technology graduate, he spent 17 years in the medical device industry and is a serial entrepreneur with a prior exit. BioGuard UVC has earned the inaugural Coolest Thing Made in New Jersey award, congressional support, and acceptance into the FDA Safer Technologies Program, and Gary was named a 2026 EY Entrepreneur of the Year New Jersey finalist. He is also a former Skip Barber pro series racing driver.
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Going Beyond the Deal is an original podcast brought to you by J. Michael Fischer Jr. Production and editing by Podcast Your Brand.
