Austin, Texas -- A revolutionary, patent-pending device that its inventor says will replace the pap smear as a cervical cancer test for women claimed the grand prize at the 19th annual global Moot Corp Competition held at the University of Texas at Austin Saturday. Private Concepts Inc. beat out 29 teams from the London Business School, Carnegie Mellon, and top MBA programs around the world to claim the $100,000 prize.

The company will use the money to conduct U.S. Food and Drug Administration clinical trials needed before the product can be marketed. It marks the second time since 1997 that a University of Texas MBA home team wins the worldwide competition hosted by the McCombs School of Business, and only the fourth time in the competition’s 19-year history.

“I am just elated, this is a unique product that a team member invented, which will meet an enormous need for women to have a less painful and intrusive means of detecting cervical cancer,” says Dr. Gary Cadenhead, the UT team’s faculty advisor.

The four venture capitalists serving as judges for Saturday’s final round were unanimous in awarding The Pevlon Home Cervical Cancer Screen the top prize after a two-day competition that featured 12 international MBA teams and 18 teams from colleges from the leading MBA programs around the U.S.

There is no cure for cervical cancer, which each year kills 5,000 women nationally and 200,000 worldwide. Women diagnosed with cervical cancer have a one in three chance of survival, which makes a yearly screen imperative.

Private Concept’s device, invented by Dr. Patrick Peveto, who along with his four team members will receive his UT MBA degree in three weeks, allows women to comfortably and conveniently self-administer the exam in the privacy of home. Currently, women must visit their OB-GYN and undergo a painful, uncomfortable pelvic exam.

Created at The University of Texas at Austin by MBA students in 1984, the Moot Corp Competition is the oldest and largest business plan competition in the world, and it provides MBA student teams with a chance to simulate the real world process of raising venture capital.

The Texas team was one of five winners of their division from Friday competition. The finals Saturday featured teams promoting a wide variety of concepts. Finalists pitched the merits of a mini CAT scanner, a toy store focusing on remote controlled race cars, software that greatly expands the capabilities of wireless LAN systems, and a chemical that keeps ornamental fish healthy. The plan involving ornamental fish, presented by the University of Georgia, was selected runner up, and will receive $5,000. Other MBA teams in the finals were from Universities of Colorado, Michigan, and Chicago.

Eds: High-resolution photos of the winners suitable for publication are available at http://www.bus.utexas.edu/news/mootcorp2002/. The winners are also available for comment. Call Guillermo Garcia at 512-496-0322 (weekend cell) or 512-232-7510 (weekday) to arrange an interview.