A few months back, an Indian start-up, Thermaissance got the certificate from US-based highest rated laboratory on something they were already sure about – Thermaissance’s products are able to inactivate 99.99% coronavirus in less than an hour. This unique innovation from Indian start-up made headlines across the globe. Since then, the start-up has been flooded with various inquiries from India and outside India on how they are able to inactivate coronaviruses.

“We have been working on nanotechnology-based textiles products since 2016. Nanoparticles that we use in the fabrics make the fabrics very adhesive to viruses. Once the viruses are stuck to the fabrics, the nanoparticles start pulling apart the membrane of the viruses and completely destroys the virus envelope. The virus thus gets inactivated and is incapable to cause any damage. Since the size of novel coronavirus is also in nanometers (60-140 nanometers), we were confident that our nanotechnology should also work on destroying novel coronavirus and test report from US laboratory confirmed this,” says the Founder & CEO, Manish Raval, a Biomedical graduate from the USA with 8+ years of research experience at top 3 healthcare companies in the USA.

Various research shows that viruses & bacteria can remain active on textile surfaces for 2 days. Thus, it is remarkable for a young technical textiles Indian startup to develop fabrics that inactivate almost 100% of coronavirus in a few minutes.

Thermaissance’s technology is 100% safe and does not cause any skin irritation. They do not use any harmful chemical or any banned substances in their products, as certified by a NABL accredited laboratory in Mumbai. Thermaissance’s fabrics have also passed flammability testing and are categorized as Class I fabrics. This is one of the important criteria for use in any Healthcare settings. Thermaissance has already launched Reusable Face Masks, Reusable PPE, Medical Scrubs, Surgical Gowns and Patient Clothing. They are soon launching Reusable Gloves. They have also registered their Face Masks and Medical Scrubs with US-FDA.

"We started with anti-bacterial collection in 2016 and have recently launched our Covid-killer collection after the US laboratory-confirmed our technology’s effectiveness against coronavirus. We have got a tremendous response to our Covid killer range, and are already exporting to 12 countries so far, including to USA and Canada. Advanced stage discussions for large scale distribution of our various products are already underway. We have also entered into long term agreements with several international players for supplying our innovative fabrics outside of India,” says Hemali Sangani, Chief Strategy Officer at Thermaissance, who is an MBA from Ivy-League Business School in the USA.

According to Mr Manish, “There are many players who have launched anti-viral textiles and anti-viral masks in recent times. Many of these players use coating-based solutions. The anti-viral effectiveness of coating-based products lasts for only a few washes (about 30-50 gentle washes). Compared to these, Thermaissance technology’s effectiveness remains over 99.99% even after 60 laboratory washes (equivalent to over 141 gentle washes), making it a cost-effective solution for a longer period. Also, several players have tested the effectiveness of their technology against coronavirus using Modified ISO or other non-ISO approved standards. Whereas we have got our products tested against coronavirus using the Actual ISO approved standard (ISO 18184). The actual ISO approved standard mandates to bombard the fabrics with thousands of viruses at the same time to test fabric’s effectiveness against the viruses. There is a significant difference between being able to destroy a few hundred viruses in few mins vs thousands of viruses at the same time.”

Thermaissance’s Face Masks and Reusable PPE are being used by Healthcare Professionals across the globe, who in turn are also advocating Thermaissance’s face masks among their patients.

Hemali says, “Healthcare professionals are facing various issues with the standard disposable / N95 masks, the primary one being that these masks have very low breathability. While talking to their patients or their staff, Doctors get forced to pull their masks, else talking becomes difficult. Now the viruses and bacteria remain active on the surface of these disposable masks and thus, the healthcare professionals are exposed to the risk of infections through surface contamination. This has been a contributing factor to the deaths of many doctors across the globe. Compared to this, our masks and PPE are continuously destroying the viruses and bacteria, while offering super breathability. Thus, healthcare professionals stay protected with our products as well as can talk easily with their patients and staff without touching their masks. More than 5000 Thermaissance face masks and reusable PPE are already being used by healthcare professionals.”

Thermaissance’s unique innovation has been recognized by NITI Aayog and International Forum on Advancements in Healthcare.