To help bolster industry efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic, HeiQ is offering its proprietary antimicrobial technology to textile industry peers CHT, JINTEX and Piedmont Zurich/Switzerland via a free license.

HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03 is an antimicrobial textile treatment proven to be effective against human coronavirus (229E) in face mask testing, the company said. The treatment enhances antiviral log reduction from 2.90 of untreated face masks to 4.5, a 30-fold improvement with more than 99.99% reduction of virus infectivity in minutes.

Since the treatment’s launch, the company has been working at full capacity, producing 145 tons per day in its four manufacturing sites on three continents.

Sharing the formula, manufacturing protocol and technical guidance will permit the manufacture and commercialisation 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. Trademark authorisation by HeiQ will be required.

“There is not a moment to lose. We must act now and act fast to produce textiles for hospitals and every frontline healthcare worker, [textiles] that are more resistant to pathogenic viruses and bacteria,” said Mr Centonze. “Reducing transmission and infection rates is the only way to re-open our economies swiftly and maintain jobs in the textile industry.”

Ralf Kattanek, group vice president of textiles for CHT, said his company’s textile expertise and production capacities globally will allow them to help mitigate the impact for the healthcare workers and industry partners.

David Juang, chairman of Taiwanese textile chemicals manufacturer JINTEX, said: “We want to show leadership in taking decisive action in a coordinated effort.”

Piedmont Chemical Group will help support North American production and distribution, according to Rick Wilson, CEO of US-based Piedmont Chemical Industries.

The treatment is a combination of vesicle and silver technologies using HeiQ’s registered silver technologies for antiviral and antibacterial effects. This is accomplished by binding permanently to viral sulphur groups and using fatty vesicle technology as a booster to help deplete the virus membrane of its protective cholesterol layer, thereby destroying the enveloped virus.

Source: Sports Textiles