An alcohol-free, aqueous, non-inflammable, and non-toxic hand sanitizer has been developed by a Pune-based start-up that will soon be available in the market. It is environment friendly and gentle on the hands and has been derived from silver nanoparticles.
The hand sanitizer has been developed by Weinnovate Biosolutions. The slow-release silver nanoparticles prolong antimicrobial activity thus obviating the need for repeated applications. It has cleared Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) approved clinical trial for the hand sanitizer and demonstrated high efficiency in killing viruses.
Weinnovate Biosolutions was supported by CAWACH (Centre for Augmenting War with COVID-19 Health Crisis) 2020 grant from the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) under the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the project was incubated at Entrepreneurship Development Centre, Pune.
Co-founder and COO of Weinnovate Biosolutions Dr. Anupama Engineer says- “We are very confident of the study outcomes and waiting to get the license for our hand sanitizer formulation from CDSCO, India. We are sure that such innovation will push India towards its 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' mission and make India a self-sustained nation to face such pandemics in future.”
“A study to evaluate the efficacy of hand sanitizer on different types of viruses is also currently underway,” she added.
Recurrent drying up of hands due to repeated application of hand sanitizers is a challenge that people have faced during the COVID 19 pandemic. The startup has developed a colloidal silver solution-based hand sanitizer. The technology operates on the ability of the silver nanoparticles to prevent the synthesis of viral negative-strand RNA and viral budding.
Silver nanoparticles are effective antiviral that acts against many deadly viruses like HIV, Hepatitis B, Herpes simplex virus, Influenza virus, and so on. Recent reports have suggested the role of Glutathione capped-Ag2S NCs that is silver nano clusters, in inhibiting the proliferation of coronavirus by preventing the synthesis of viral negative-strand RNA and viral budding. The colloidal silver, on which the technology of the sanitizers is based, can help arrest COVID -19 spread by blocking the RNA replication and surface glycoproteins.
