Cleansing Wipe Formulation
Delivering an all-surface disinfectant to the healthcare industry: Innovolo joins forces with Optimum Medical to develop an effective formula to keep staff safe during the pandemic.
Background
Optimum Medical is a UK-based manufacturer and supplier of product lines for the healthcare industry, focusing on PPE, medical lubricant gel, and urology goods. The COVID-19 pandemic has created the opportunity to provide their existing customers with a highly effective disinfectant wipe solution capable of cleaning and disinfecting hard surfaces in healthcare and medical facilities.
The Challenge
The wipe solution should clean and disinfect hard surfaces in hospitals, ambulances, care homes, nursing facilities and transport vehicles. It targets the removal of all microbial soil including Norovirus. The formulation should include a surfactant that can be used to clean and disinfect treatment equipment, changing mats, wall panels and emergency transport surfaces. It should have a neutral pH to minimise risks of corrosion and be allergen-free.
The solution should remove caked-on dirt while avoiding streaking on glass surfaces such as windows and car windscreens. The formulation should be suitable for use on hard surfaces, such as used by an emergency services vehicle team.
Another essential feature is that the solution should also be able to remove caked-on grease and bloodstains. The wipes should have no smell to them as sensitive patients are being treated within the same space.
The wipe must not disrupt or damage delicate computer equipment, medical equipment and other sensitive surfaces.
Organisms to be targeted included
- Acinetobacter baumannii
- Enterococcus faecalis
- Enterococcus faecium (VRE)
- Enterococcus hirae
- Escherichia coli
- Klebsiella pneumoniae
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Vibrio cholerae
- Mycobacterium bovis
- Mycobacterium terrae
- Aspergillus brasiliensis
- Candida albicans
- H1N1 and H5N1 Virus
- Hepatitis B and C
- Norovirus
- Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIV)
Uncertainties
Formulating a solution that kills the H1N1 virus and Hepatitis B & C will be essential to winning market share from existing solutions. The client also needs proof of concept for the claims:
- 99.999% bacterial and fungal kill
- 55% reduction of MRSA
However, there are no studies available to use as a template. Other competing formulations do not have the same level of efficacy, and due to the pH of the solution are not suitable for application on aluminium surfaces.
How We Helped
Innovolo were contracted on a project basis to design risk the development, to formulate a disinfectant formula using European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) approved chemicals similar in performance to a competitors’ product suitable for use on wipes and in a spray application.
Innovolo assembled a project team led by a highly experienced chemical formulator and CP scientist with extensive experience in formulations for major global brands. The core team was supported by a testing laboratory to work collaboratively on all testing methodologies and design-of-experiments (DoE) design.
The formulation was developed as a near-neutral pH and proven to kill 99.999% of pathogens after 10 seconds, Norovirus within one minute, and to reduce the instances of MRSA by a whopping 55%.
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