12th May 2020

Antimicrobial specialist develops products for virus fight

A Welsh antimicrobial specialist has developed a multi-purpose hand sanitiser and surface cleaning product to help combat the coronavirus outbreak and is in the process of creating nanofiber FFP3 face masks to combat the NHS shortage.

Developed by Swansea University PhD alumni, Hybrisan’s sanitiser product does not contain alcohol and is being snapped up by retail businesses across the UK and will be supplied to the NHS.

Hybrisan technical director Chris Mortimer said: “Amid the coronavirus outbreak, it’s been more important than ever to uphold good standards of health and hygiene, and with that comes a greater demand for handwashing products, including hand sanitisers and we’ve already seen the demand for this which now isn’t being met.

“We’ve been working tirelessly in the background to create a solution that is highly effective and accessible to all including most importantly, our NHS, as well as high risk individuals and key workers, to help protect our people and reduce the spread of the virus in the UK.”

Following a number of years developing the technology, the product has undergone rigorous testing against a variety of viruses and now coronavirus specifically.

It has already gained support from the Welsh Government, which is looking to ensure that the product can be made available at scale for the NHS, key workers, as well as the general public.

Hybrisan is also in the process of creating FFP3 face masks, one of the key products on the NHS critical supply list.

Mortimer added: “We will be looking to make this product available as soon as possible, once all of the required safety testing has been completed and we hope to see this develop rapidly over the coming weeks.”