NordShield, the revolutionary antimicrobial innovation developed by the Nordic BioTech Group Ltd. received the Sustainable Healthcare Innovation award earlier this year by the Nordic Center for Sustainable Healthcare. Nordic BioTech Group Ltd., established in Helsinki, Finland in 2016, is the first Finnish company to receive the prestigious award.
“NordShield revolutionizes the way antimicrobials work by offering an outperforming natural alternative for hazardous antimicrobial substances,” explained the company’s CEO Kristoffer Ekman.
“Our technology forms a bioactive molecular net on treated surfaces, providing safe and long-lasting antimicrobial protection, that is highly effective against mold, bacteria and viruses,” he continued.
NordShield was revealed after more than 10 years of research and development by its inventor, Finnish chemist Kari Holopainen, who has over 30 years of R&D experience in the areas of chemicals for water treatment, cleaning systems, cosmetics, cutting fluids and construction.
The renewable product is of natural origin, making it nontoxic and nonharmful to the environment. It can be applied through patented water or solvent solutions, as well as through ointments and liniments, making it useful for a wide variety of industries.
“We are currently focusing our efforts on further developing applications especially targeting the medical, personal care and fiber industries,” shared Ekman.
When applied to textiles and fibers, the NordShield treatment eliminates mold and mildew, ensuring the product’s economic lifetime and having a large impact on logistics and warehousing.
Hand-in-cage studies conducted in Bangalore, India, have also shown that treating textiles with NordShield provide high mosquito repellent efficacy.
Nordic BioTech Group partners with organizations around the globe to develop applications for NordShield. Third-party partners in Finland, Sweden, Germany, France and Japan, among others, are continuously conducting tests.
“We are currently in collaboration with a major Japanese multinational organization involved in the blood transfusion industry to develop a NordShield solution intended to reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections by targeting to inactivate pathogens that may be present in donated blood units,” said Ekman.
The NordShield technology has shown good antimicrobial efficacy, including enveloped viruses, specifically HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
Nordic BioTech Group is driven by a world-class scientific team that combines entrepreneurship with experience from global leaders like David Jay Weber, professor of medicine, paediatrics and epidemiology, and associate chief medical officer of UNC Health Care.
“Apart from NordShield being a highly commercially viable product with a range of applications, its ability to do a tremendous amount of good is what motivates us to push it forward,” concluded Ekman.
