DST Funded Startup Develops A Non-Alcohol-Based Sanitiser

In News

The Department of Science and Technology funded startup, Weinnovate Biosolutions has developed a non-alcohol-based sanitiser to protect healthcare workers and infected persons in this fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

In-Detail

• One of the ways how the novel Coronavirus transmits is by contact.
• By touching the surfaces where droplets from the infected person are present and touching mouth or eyes, a healthy person can get infected with Coronavirus.
• Thus, to kill the virus, scientists advocated hand washing with soap or an alcohol-based sanitiser.
• The problem with alcohol-based sanitiser is that it is inflammable and some sanitisers contain hazardous chemicals.
• The sanitiser created by Weinnovate Biosolutions, a Pune-based startup, is a non-alcoholic aqueous-based Colloidal Silver solution.
• The solution is made uniquely from the company’s NanoAgCide technology.
• It can be used for disinfecting hands and environmental surfaces.
• The liquid is noninflammable and it has no hazardous chemicals.
• It effectively kills the virus and stops the spread of infection.
• The solution helps healthcare workers from infection and other infected persons from spreading the virus.

Colloidal Silver Solution

• The Colloidal Silver Solution is based on the silver nanoparticle’s ability to prevent the synthesis of viral negative-strand RNA and viral budding.
• It is not hazardous and there is no risk of inflammation, unlike alcohol-based disinfectant solutions.
• The company has already filed for an India patent and commercial production of the solution is underway.
• The start-up is aiming to produce 200 litres of colloidal silver solution for its first batch.
• Very soon the solution will be available for pan-India distribution.

Nanoparticles and COVID-19

• In the fight against COVID-19, nanoparticles are emerging as a saviour by providing effective solutions.
• Be it theranostics (therapy plus diagnostics) to disinfection to imaging, nanoparticles are being deployed to fight the virus.
• The size of the particles, which are less than 100nm in size, is playing the crucial role.
• These particles are being used for targeting and drug delivery.

Silver Nanoparticles

• Research has already shown the effectiveness of silver nanoparticles as an effective antiviral against viruses like Hepatitis B, Herpes simplex virus, HIV, influenza virus, etc.
• A recent research has shown that Glutathione capped-Ag2S NCs (Silver nanoclusters) have inhibited the synthesis of viral negative-strand RNA and viral budding in Coronavirus.
• The use of colloidal silver nanoparticles for prevention contact infection among health workers has also been advocated by scientists like Shingo Nakamura of National Defense Medical College Research Institute, Saitama, Japan.