KUALA LUMPUR: Hartalega Holdings Bhd is reinforcing its position as the market leader with the introduction of its revolutionary new medical glove that can kill 99.99 per cent germs within a five-minute contact.
Executive chairman Kuan Kam Hon said this world’s first non-leaching antimicrobial nitrile examination glove is touted a game-changer in the healthcare sector, and will be available in the first-half of 2018.
"Hartalega always find innovative ways to serve the medical market through our continuous research and development (R&D). It is a significant development the market has been looking for to protect consumers," he said at a media briefing today.
Hartalega jointly developed this patented technology with United-Kingdom-based Antimicrobial R&D specialists, Chemical Intelligence Ltd.
"We are confident the new product will be most welcomed by the healthcare sector to ensure much safer clinical environment.
"Based from our internal study, hospitals have better interest in this new technology to mitigate hospital acquired infections. The product has an active protective layer to prevent cross-contamination," he said.
Managing director Kuan Mun Leong said the new product is Hartalega’s testament for its passion in innovation that is set to elevate Malaysia’s glove manufacturing industry.
"We will start to revolutionise this new variant into our existing nitrile medical glove in stages. It is a licensed and loyalty based technology. We want to get the regulatory certification globally like the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)," he said.
Kuan pointed out Hartalega spent in excess of RM25 million throughout the two-year joint-development with Chemical Intelligence, and five years prior to that, the British company alone spent another £2 million (RM11.03 million).
"We have the aspiration to progressively standardise this new technology across our existing medical glove products. We’ve done the trials. There is no need to modify the production lines," he said.
Chemical Intelligence Ltd chief executive officer Rob Gros, who was also present at the briefing here, said hospital-acquired infections are frequently transmitted to patients by the hands of healthcare practitioners.
"Contamination can occur when taking a patient’s pulse, blood pressure or temperature or from contact with surfaces near patients," he said.
Gros said research has found that on an annual basis, hospital-acquired infections affect about two million hospitals patients in the United States, resulting in 90,000 deaths and additional cost of US$28 billion (RM117.38 billion) to US$45 billion (RM188.65 billion).
Meanwhile, in Europe, Gross cited the European centre for Disease Prevention and Control data showing hospital-acquired infections affect 4.1 million patients annually, resulting in 37,000 deaths with additional cost of €7billion (RM34.20 billion).
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