Looking to help advance the global fight against coronavirus on textiles, HeiQ recently launched HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03, an antimicrobial textile treatment proven effective against human coronavirus (229E) in face mask testing, significantly enhancing the antiviral log reduction from 2.90 of untreated face masks to 4.5, a 30 times improvement with over 99.99% reduction of virus infectivity in minutes. It is tested to last at least 30 washes.
Since its launch the company has been utilizing its full capacity of 145 tons per day in its four manufacturing sites on three continents.
Recently, HeiQ co-founder and Group CEO Carlo Centonze expressed the urgent need to maximize the impact of the international textile industry in fighting the global pandemic, even if that meant sharing HeiQ’s proprietary technology. HeiQ has since offered to share its HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03 technology to textile industry peers via a free licence. Sharing the formula, manufacturing protocol and technical guidance will permit the manufacture and commercialization of HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03 to meet the regulatory compliance and performance requirement. Licensees will be required to test their treated fabrics with licensed third-party testing institutes to establish efficacy and quality as per HeiQ’s standards. Use of the HeiQ Viroblock trademark in relation to treated articles will require trademark authorization directly by HeiQ to ensure truthful and compliant claims.
“There is not a moment to lose. We must act now and act fast to produce textiles for hospitals and every frontline healthcare worker that are more resistant to pathogenic viruses and bacteria. The international textile industry must do our part and work together in a united effort to protect textiles and help in the struggle to reduce the risk and speed of contamination and transmission around the world,” said Centonze. “Reducing transmission and infection rates is the only way to re-open our economies swiftly and maintain jobs in the textile industry,” he added.
HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03 is a combination of vesicle and silver technologies using HeiQ’s registered silver technologies for antiviral and antibacterial (together antimicrobial) effect. This is accomplished through binding permanently to viral sulfur groups and using HeiQ’s fatty vesicle technology (Liposomes) as a booster that helps deplete swiftly the virus membrane (pericapsis) of its protective cholesterol layer, thereby destroying the enveloped virus. HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03 can be applied to many textile surfaces including face masks, air filters, medical gowns, curtains, mattresses, bed linens, drapes and more.
