January 4, 2002 — NEW YORK, NY — A New York City company says testing has shown its antimicrobial surface coating to be effective against more than 20 microbes that are responsible for asthma, allergies, staph infection, influenza, polio, hepatitis, cholera and Legionnaire’s disease.

Alistagen Corp.’s new coating, Caliwel, is awaiting a Manufacturer’s Use Product and End Use Registration from the Environmental Protection Agency. The company claims the product is effective for up to six years.

“The technology behind this product application represents a whole new category of preventative healthcare,” said William Mallow, chairman of Alistagen’s technical advisory board. “Testing has been extensive, and we are confident that Caliwel’s use in preventing disease will offer untold benefits to people everywhere.”

The antimicrobial is effective largely because of the Bi-Neutralizing Agent (BNA), which contains the active ingredient of calcium hydroxide, which has long been used to fight microbes with high alkaline. The product will initially be available as a liquid coating that can be used on walls, floors and other hard surfaces and should be on the market sometime this year.