The Proneem company in Marseille has developed a mask impregnated with an anti-Covid active.

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Robert Poulain

  • In Marseille, the start-up Proneem claims to have developed in a few months a "textile treatment with high antiviral functionality whose effectiveness has been proven on SARS-Cov-2", the virus responsible for Covid-19.

  • The company has adapted to the situation thanks to its expertise: for fifteen years, it has been treating fabrics to ward off mites and other insects.

It is possible to disinfect a surface with a product that eliminates the viruses present.

But a few postilions later, everything has to be redone.

"With our Viralstop treatment, the persistence is seven days", assures Nathalie Hagege, founder and president of Proneem, a Marseille company created in 2003. Could this new miracle product be the result of a rapid adaptation to integrate the market linked to the health crisis?

In part, but not only.

"We have been working on biocides for 15 years, and our expertise relates to the functionalization of tissues", as the head of Proneem likes to remind.

In other words: this company has been treating pieces of fabric for years to kill or repel mites, bedbugs, mosquitoes and ... viruses.

Result: the start-up claims to have developed in a few months a "textile treatment with high antiviral functionality whose effectiveness has been proven on SARS-Cov-2", the virus responsible for Covid-19.

Textiles that block and destroy the virus

This made it possible to treat masks with Viral stop, masks which not only prevent the passage of the virus, but destroy it.

“They keep the same efficiency even after twenty washes,” says Nathalie Hagege.

The process can be applied to gloves or any other type of clothing, as well as for industrial textiles.

Finally, it is also planned to market a spray for treating potentially contaminated surfaces.

Our file on Covid-19

How does this product work?

Ingredients such as zinc pyrithione (ZnP) and zinc oxide (ZnO) are believed to prevent the replication of many viruses, including coronaviruses.

“It attaches to the membrane and destroys it.

After 30 minutes, 99.9% of the viral elements are destroyed, ”according to the director, who specifies that these products should be marketed before the end of the year.

But she would have already "signed an agreement with the National Olympic Committee to provide masks that will protect athletes."

And she hopes to quickly obtain "a response from the government, which (them) requested."

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