SAFE-ON Technology for Smart Antimicrobial Coatings

Introduction

Infectious diseases are a rapidly growing threat to humanity. For instance, the current COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, has already killed over 4.5 million people since 2019 and is taking a devastating socioeconomic toll around the world. Similarly, nosocomial infections are among the major causes of death and increased morbidity, causing thousands of deaths every year in Europe.

Project Overview

Recently, the use of antimicrobial coatings has garnered increasing interest as a simple prophylactic strategy to combat these infectious diseases. In this PoC project, we aim to advance a new patented antimicrobial coating technology called SAFE-ON into the pre-commercial stage, with the aim of demonstrating its breakthrough innovation potential and approaching its arrival to market.

Project Phases

Phase 1: Optimization of SAFE-ON Technology

The first part of this project encompasses the optimization of SAFE-ON technology as highly efficient, smart antimicrobial coatings. This entails:

1. The preparation of two antimicrobial coatings based on commercial formulations used in catheters and door-handle covers (one based on hydrogels and the other on silicone).
2. Subsequent testing of their antimicrobial capacity.
3. Preparing the first two SAFE-ON prototypes: one coated catheter and one door-handle cover.

Phase 2: Intellectual Property and Market Analysis

The second part of SAFE-ON will be dedicated to intellectual property (IP) and market aspects needed for the pre-commercialization of this new technology for antimicrobial coatings. This study will include:

• A freedom-to-operate analysis.
• A market study to identify the antimicrobial coating producers that could ultimately serve as manufacturing partners.

Conclusion

In this project, we will design, fabricate, and evaluate two innovative prototypes incorporating our iodine delivery platform, with the aim to assess the commercial viability of antimicrobial SAFE-ON coatings. Our goal is to accelerate their market entry and ultimately, commercialize and further develop antimicrobial coatings and other biocide products based on our technology.