Planned hospital, health care, mold and industrial applications include high level disinfection for surfaces in hospitals, assisted living facilities, clinics and emergency response vehicles, as well as other demanding environments. Hospital-acquired infections raise the cost of health care and cause excessive morbidity and mortality across the world’s healthcare systems and nursing facilities. Some of these infections are caused by spore-forming organisms that have been extremely difficult to kill. BioNeutral’s scientists have taken aim at these troublesome pathogens with the design of a Ygiene™ formulation intended for hospital use. This formulation is in its final stage of testing and will soon be presented to the U.S. EPA for registration and commercial availability.

Consumer products/light industrial/health care – Formulations of Ygiene™ appropriate for the household market and light industrial/commercial uses are in development and testing. When necessary testing is completed, BioNeutral will seek EPA registration for the formulations. The products will not be commercially available until that registration process is completed.

As outlined in Homeland Security Presidential Directive #10 (issued April 28, 2004), the United States' biodefense strategy depends upon four pillars of activity: Threat Awareness, Protection and Prevention, Surveillance and Detection, and Response and Recovery. Federal Departments and Agencies have 15 scenarios for which to plan, including natural disasters and intentional attacks. Five scenarios are biological in nature: aerosolized anthrax, food-borne illness, plague, pandemic influenza and foot-and-mouth disease, and each scenario requires effective antimicrobial countermeasures to remediate the environment.

The #1 biological threat to the U.S. is an attack with aerosolized anthrax. One of the greatest vulnerabilities in the anthrax scenario is the lack of a plan to remediate environments that have been exposed to Bacillus anthracis spores and live bacteria. There is no natural process for anthrax spores to degrade, and in the absence of full decontamination, affected areas – potentially including skyscrapers, subways, government buildings and financial centers – would be unavailable for human habitation for decades. Current experience with sites where anthrax was being tested as a biological weapon indicate viable spores are available in those environments and can cause illness after at least 60 years. It is unlikely that any health authority will be willing to declare areas “safe” or “clean” as long as sufficient numbers of spores are present to cause illness. Decontamination, therefore, is the only option, and it must be complete and immediate to avoid severe economic damage to the nation, especially if the event affects a strategically important city.

Currently, a suitable countermeasure that has 100% kill on first application is not available. Moreover, all of the currently available decontaminants are corrosive or harmful to furniture and fabrics. With the experience of the decontamination of the Hart Senate Office Building and the various postal facilities in 2001, there remains an outstanding requirement of the Federal government for access to a non-corrosive sterilant that works on “first-pass” and that does not harm materials with which it comes in contact. BioNeutral Group is attempting to meet the challenge by perfecting a Ygiene™ formulation to kill anthrax spores rapidly with the first application and yet at the same time maintain its intended friendliness to the environment. The company believes that it has the technology to fulfill this difficult and challenging requirement.

The January 26, 2010 report by the Commission on the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism states:

“Rapid detection and diagnosis capabilities are the first links in the chain, followed by: providing actionable information to federal, state, and local leaders and the general public; having adequate supplies of appropriate medical countermeasures; quickly distributing those countermeasures; treating and isolating the sick in medical facilities; protecting the well through vaccines and prophylactic medications; and in certain cases, such as anthrax, environmental cleanup. The United States is seriously lacking in each of these vital capabilities.” [Emphasis added]

BioNeutral’s scientists have been researching formulations that address the shortcomings of other technologies, and the company intends to respond to the needs of the United States for a better decontaminant. The company seeks to work with the U.S. Government as a customer to provide the nation with the best, most efficient and environmentally-friendly solution to the threat of biological terrorism.