- The Lunel-based company is a European benchmark for ultraviolet water treatment.
- She created a system called Bio-Scan, which disinfects the surfaces of bacteria and viruses, in particular SARS-CoV-2, which is the source of the coronavirus. It can be used to clean surfaces, but in no case directly on the skin.
- After conclusive results, the product is in the testing phase by independent laboratories in order to obtain the CE standard. It could be marketed at the end of May for the first time, for medical, paramedical and medico-social establishments.
Final tests are currently carried out in an independent laboratory to obtain essential international standards before the commercialization of Bio-Scan. This system created by the Hérault company Bio-UV should make it possible to disinfect all types of surfaces in a few seconds, including those potentially contaminated by the coronavirus.
“We are extremely confident. All the tests that we have done on our side are excellent. Our system can disinfect and eliminate 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. Including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus, "explains Benoît Gillmann, the founder and boss of Bio-UV. “ This week, a first independent laboratory is conducting the tests traditionally carried out before the marketing of a product. The following week, a second laboratory will test it specifically on the Covid-19 ”.
Number one in Europe for swimming pool water treatment
His company based in Lunel was created in 2000. It specializes in the treatment and disinfection of water by the ultraviolet process. With success. With a turnover estimated at 35 million euros in 2020, Bio-UV has become the European number one in the treatment of residential swimming pool water by UV. And the reference, on a public and semi-public scale, of dechloramination in a collective basin.
The company employs 80 people in Hérault and 35 in a subsidiary in Scotland. It is also present on the world markets for drinking water, the reuse of waste water or the treatment of ballast water from ships.
First target: medical and paramedical services
"I asked my research and development department to develop a system for disinfecting surfaces with UV-C, simple, fast, efficient, ergonomic and practical," continues Benoît Gillmann. The prototype currently tested is compact. It measures 50 cm by 10 cm in width. “It is enough to sweep a surface for five to eight seconds depending on the surface and in a few seconds the viruses and bacteria are neutralized, specifies the founder of Bio-UV. With UV-C technology, there are absolutely no chemicals, no chemical reactions harmful to health. Its use must be easy to use, including by maintenance staff ”. UV-C is however dangerous for the skin: "We will provide the gloves and the protective mask with the machine"
If its effectiveness is confirmed by independent tests, this process must first of all allow the surfaces (beds, auscultation tables, waiting rooms, collective spaces) of the medical, paramedical and medico-social universe to be cleaned, such as Ehpad. "Then we can consider wider marketing to professionals working in the disinfection of public transport, schools, street furniture ...", continues the business manager.
Made in France in the Lunel factory
The pescalune company has experienced a constantly increasing industrial activity for several years and a 63% increase in turnover in 2019.
It may be able to market - if the standards are issued as expected to obtain the CE marking - its system by the end of May. "First in our factory in Lunel, then, if orders are there, we will rely on local subcontractors", concludes Benoît Gillmann.
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