New Delhi: Biomoneta, a Bengaluru-based startup funded by Government of India and Karnataka Government has developed an air decontamination technology which promised to eliminate airborne COVID-19 virus with 99.9999% efficiency in any closed setting. The company has conducted validation studies at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, with support from The Department of Biotechnology’s Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (DBT-BIRAC).  

The technology, developed under the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP)’s COVID-19 Innovations Deployment Accelerator programme (C-CIDA), is pathogen agnostic. In previous studies conducted by ICMR/NABL-accredited labs, it had destroyed other airborne microbes with 99.999% efficiency as well.

Among other things, it has proven to be effective against pathogens notorious for causing secondary infections in hospitals, including bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, fungi such as Candida, and viruses such as H1N1 which cause influenza.

Its activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the pathogen causing TB, is particularly important as TB remains a neglected disease with no preventive vaccine. The causative pathogen is airborne, highly transmissible and can spread through variants that cannot be treated easily with currently available antibiotics.

Janani Venkatraman, co-founder and CEO of Biomoneta, noted that post-COVID, there is a realization that air treatment needs microbe-specific standards. “The methods used to disinfect air even in state-of-the-art medical environments focus on particulate matter removal as a surrogate for microbial decontamination. Our medical and surgical procedures have evolved significantly. We aspire to bring air sterilization to the same level.”

Arindam Ghatak, CTO and co-founder, said, “Lab data is important but real impact is measured by how the technology translates for the end user. We have worked with hospitals, clinics, IVF labs, offices and cafeterias to demonstrate this.”

Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO & Director of C-CAMP, said that Biomoneta, as a C-CAMP incubated startup, is testimony to what deep-science led innovations can do to solve a crucial problem for COVID and looking beyond, for non-COVID airborne infections.

Keywords: startup, Karnataka, decontamination, technology, airborne, validation, Indian Institute of Science, Department of Biotechnology, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, DBT-BIRAC, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms, C-CAMP, pathogen, microbes, bacteria, fungi, TB, antibiotic, hospital, clinic

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