September 17, 2007 — SAN DIEGO, CA — PURE Bioscience today announced it has developed a new antimicrobial product based on its patented silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC) molecule that provides the first 24-hour residual protection against norovirus. The highly concentrated product, Cruise Control, is designed to be mixed with water at the point of use to create a non-toxic hard surface antimicrobial. Cruise Control will be marketed to the cruise ship industry, which in recent years has suffered significant economic and reputation damage as a result of common and well-publicized outbreaks of norovirus, or “stomach flu.”
Michael L. Krall, president and CEO of PURE Bioscience, states, “Cruise Control is the first and only product available to the market that provides 24-hour residual protection against norovirus. Our analysis of the cruise ship market shows great potential for Cruise Control. Proper implementation of Cruise Control into the janitorial routines of a cruise ship should significantly decrease the transmission and persistence of norovirus and other infectious organisms. Our distributor is working with a key industry group that includes more than 500 cruise ships, each of which uses up to 200 gallons of disinfectant concentrate per week and in total represents a potential $300 million market. After presentation and industry evaluation of our test data, we anticipate that Cruise Control will be field tested on a small number of ships. Success in those trials could establish Cruise Control as a viable solution to the norovirus problem in the industry.
“Our new product further demonstrates SDC’s flexibility in formulation and highlights its unique combination of powerful broad spectrum antimicrobial action combined with a previously unattainable safety profile. Creating this stable, field-dilutable antimicrobial represents a research and development breakthrough for PURE and appreciably expands our market possibilities.”
Krall concludes, “As the first product to provide residual viral protection, the prospective global health impact of our new SDC formulation is astounding. Although Cruise Control will first be marketed internationally to the cruise ship industry and is not currently available for sale in the United States, we will evaluate whether to pursue necessary regulatory registrations to allow us to sell a similar product in the U.S.”
Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause gastroenteritis, more commonly referred to as “stomach flu.” Norovirus causes unpleasant symptoms that can include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps. Norovirus is highly contagious and spreads rapidly throughout closed environments. The virus exists in the stool or vomit of infected people and can be transmitted through contaminated food or drink, touching surfaces that have been contaminated, and having direct contact with an infected person.
PURE commissioned the independent, third-party study entitled “Residual Virucidal Efficacy of a Disinfectant for Use on Inanimate Environmental Surfaces Utilizing Feline Calicivirus as a Surrogate Virus for Norovirus.” The study was conducted by the nation’s leading third party microbiology and virology testing laboratory in accordance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Good Laboratory Practice regulations. No product has ever carried a residual kill claim for a virus, and, consequently, no EPA protocol exists to evaluate products for such a claim. The testing laboratory modified an existing EPA protocol for testing bacterial residual efficacy to a protocol that appropriately evaluated the residual efficacy of PURE’s new formula against the Feline Calicivirus. PURE’s new disinfectant demonstrated greater than 99.9999% reduction in viral titer of Feline Calicivirus after 12 hours and at least 99.98% reduction after 24 hours.
About PURE Bioscience
PURE Bioscience (PURE) develops and markets technology-based bioscience products that provide solutions to numerous global health challenges. PURE’s proprietary high efficacy/low toxicity bioscience technologies, including its silver dihydrogen citrate-based antimicrobials, represent innovative advances in diverse markets and lead today’s global trend toward industry and consumer use of “green” products while providing competitive advantages in efficacy and safety. A new molecular entity, patented silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC), is an electrolytically generated source of stabilized ionic silver. SDC is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, non-caustic and formulates well with other compounds. As a platform technology, SDC is distinguished from competitors in the marketplace because of its superior efficacy, reduced toxicity and the inability of bacteria to form a resistance to it. SDC also offers 24-hour residual protection against standard indicator bacteria. PURE Bioscience, headquartered in El Cajon, California (San Diego metropolitan area), was incorporated in 1992.
Web site: www.purebio.com