SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Project Summary/Abstract In the US, about 1.7 million Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAls) occur in hospitals each year, resulting in 99,000 deaths and an estimated $20 billion in healthcare costs. According to previous reports, as much as one third of HAI cases can be attributed to environmental surfaces, namely “high touch” surfaces (e.g., bed rails, machine buttons, equipment), in hospitals. Self-sanitizing coatings, i.e., antimicrobial surfaces, are an ideal theoretical solution for eliminating persistent pathogens; however there has been no commercially available antimicrobial material which can achieve high biocidal efficacy against pathogens with other necessary attributes, such as easy to apply, broad material compatibility, no resistance development to pathogens, and cost-effective. HaloFilm™ is a breakthrough product. HaloFilm is a spray-on product that when dried leaves a thin transparent film on a surface. The film is a polymer composed of one repeating unit with a functional group that adheres to a surface, and another functional repeating unit that stabilizes the chlorine. HaloFilm turns the surface into a chlorine battery so when it is used with a chlorine-based disinfectants it will allow the surface to be covered with the same level of chlorine found in a pool. HaloFilm is the only product that can pass EPA testing protocols as the supplemental residual antimicrobial coatings and films against bacteria and an enveloped virus surrogate for SARS-CoV-2. In fact, the EPA tested 20 of commercial products and none of the spray-on products achieved the 3-log reduction against Phi6 that HaloFilm achieved. HaloFilm is Halomine Inc.’s first product and is protected by exclusively licensed patents from Auburn University and Cornell University and will be brought to market in 2023 in collaboration with Diversey, a $2.7 billion global hygiene and infection control company. In this Phase II we will continue development of our product category by deepening our understanding of its efficacy against pathogens that are problematic in healthcare environments, extend HaloFilm’s use by developing a wipe based HaloFilm product, and investigate potential for an optimum companion product that can maximize biocidal efficacy of the product in service.
