Japan’s Nippon Paint and Corning develop antivirus coating to protect frontline healthcare workers in fight against pandemic
- The Antivirus Kids Paint was jointly developed by Nippon Paint and Corning,
- 5 million yuan worth of new product has been donated to four hospitals in Hubei province
Japan’s Nippon Paint and Corning of the US have developed a coating designed for use in hospitals that it said can repel microbes and help frontline health care and medical services workers in the fight against public health crises.
Nippon Paint’s Antivirus Kids Paint aims to protect frontline workers and has been developed with Corning, a US-based and New York-listed technology company. It has been tested by Texas-based Microchem Laboratory and can render inactive almost 100 per cent of Feline Calicivirus, an upper respiratory infection in cats. The US Environmental Protection Agency has approved Feline Calicivirus as a suitable replacement for detecting human norovirus.
“We believe the paint created … can offer an additional layer of protection by reducing the risk of infection from viruses on the painted surfaces of hospitals and medical centres,” Dr Joydeep Lahiri, division vice-president and programme director, speciality surfaces, at Corning, said in a statement on Thursday.
According to the World Health Organisation, the coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 disease might stay on surfaces for up to several days. People can catch the virus by touching contaminated surfaces or objects, and then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
“We hope this will give frontline health care professionals valuable support, as they fight the virus,” said Eric Chung, president of Nippon Paint, China.
Originally developed for hospitals and health care environments, the paint could eventually be used on surfaces in cruise ships, passenger ferries and other commercial vessels. Tokyo-listed Nippon Paint, which bought DuluxGroup, Australia’s biggest paint maker, for A$3.6 billion (US$2.3 billion) last August, manufactures and sells coating materials for general, industrial and automobile uses, as well as for marine industries through its subsidiary, Nippon Paint Marine. Nippon Paint is the world’s fifth-largest paint maker.
Nippon Paint and Corning have donated 5 million yuan (US$706,897) worth of their new product to four hospitals in Hubei province, home to Wuhan, where the virus was first reported. The effort comes as companies and individuals globally donate to relief efforts amid the pandemic.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong-headquartered private-equity firm Baring Private Equity Asia said on Thursday it will donate US$5 million to local Asian organisations in support of Covid-19 relief efforts. The donation comes from the firm’s chief executive, Jean Eric Salata, and four other investment committee members, who have given up their annual salaries, as well as from contributions by the firm itself and other employees.
(Corrects story first published on April 17 to say the paint coating repels microbes and bacteria, instead of “coronavirus” as originally reported.)
