Earth Corporation will develop new solutions for the prevention of infectious diseases by 2030 by applying MA-T technology to be developed through open innovation. In addition to our business in Japan, we will participate in the procurement services of the United Nations and other public organizations to curb the spread of viruses, microorganisms, multidrug-resistant bacteria and other infectious diseases in low and middle-income countries in South-east Asia, such as Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, that have populations around 220 million people. We aim to provide affordable and simple measures for social implementation.
October, 2020
Earth Corporation Co., ltd
| Issues to be solved | Infection preventive measures and control, reduction of infection-related death |
| Product / Technology / Service | A new bactericide and disinfectant designed to reduce the amount of microorganisms in spaces and on environmental surfaces through the application of MA-T technology |
| Approach | Product development, safety verification, clinical research, and recommendations for infection prevention guidelines |
| Target country / area | We target low and middle-income countries in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, where infectious disease control is a national issue. |
| Target year for achievement | 2030 |
| Scale of the business | Undisclosed |
| Partner | National Universities, Overseas University Hospitals, dotAqua, ACENET, Industry association and the academic society |
Relevant target of
SDGs |
3.1 By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births
3.2 By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births
3.3 By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
3.9 By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination
17.17 Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships |
Background
Among sporadic and baseless countermeasures to infectious disease, following defending activities are verified by the epidemic survey in the COVID-19 pandemic.
(1) Wearing a mask or face shield.
(2) Use of sanitizers as an alternative to hand and body surface washing by water and soap.
(3) Installation of shielding or separators in offices and shops.
(4) Ventilation or disinfectant spraying in general living spaces.
It is desirable that these easy infection control measures are continuously implemented around the world regardless of difference in economic strength.
We want to contribute to the enhancement of global risk management for infectious diseases by promoting the appropriate selection and proper use of disinfectants and sanitizers complementary to the above countermeasures of (1) to (4) in the post-corona society.
Purpose of the project
In developing countries, including low and middle-income earning countries, where infectious diseases are still frequent diseases and big clinical burden. Their weak social security systems, limited health care budget, and a limited number of health care workers make it difficult to provide the latest medical technologies and drugs.
Inexpensive, safe and simple infection control measures such as, hand hygiene, protector use, and environmental disinfection need to be more effectively implemented especially in developing countries. For this reason, it is recognized as a global challenge to promote research on the appropriate selection and proper use of disinfectants, and to improve measures of infectious disease control.
We believe our investigation and promotion of disinfectant use has a positive impact on some countries’ and United Nations guidelines for infectious disease control.
Detail of the Project (How can this project address global health challenges?)
< Background of development of new technology MA-T, and its effectiveness >A Japanese venture company ACENET Inc. discovered a proprietary controlled release formula of chlorine dioxide radical in water called MA-T and launched a novel bactericidal deodorant achieving high efficacy and high safety in 2009（*）. The Osaka University, investigated and clarified the mechanism of such unique profile of MA-T in 2015. Earth Corporation is collaborating with such academic institutes to explore effective industrial use of MA-T including application to infectious disease prevention, which is expected to contribute to the improvement of hospital medical care in Southeast Asian countries.
< Business plan >Our social implementation of global control of infectious disease, such as supply of disinfectant products under the authorization of the United Nations, will be carried out according to the following plan.
Phase 1:
Specific organizations for public interest to build close relationship with academia and private sector group will be established to promote research and business of anti-infectious disease measures.
Phase 2:
Scientific trials to investigate improved ways of disinfectant usage will be performed
Examples of study subjects are:
①Study for effective usage of disinfectant before removing face mask or protectors
②Study for safety verification of disinfectant application to skin and mucous membrane
③Study for application of antimicrobial processing to surface of polymers
④Study for verification of effectiveness and safety of indoor spray of disinfectant
Phase 3:
Based on the Phase 2 studies, product development and establishment of manufacturing and supply system will be performed. Practically, we need to find partners with suitable infrastructures for product development and manufacturing.
Phase 4:
Getting the aid of Industry Association and Academic Society with which we build relationship in Phase 1, we will make petition activities to the Southeast Asian administrative authorities or the United Nations in order to establish guidelines and authorized product supplies for infectious disease control.
＜ Industrial collaboration strategy ＞We plan to establish close relationships with private companies and academia who share the general corporate philosophy to contribute to global, social and people’s wellness through MA-T related business and research. We will set several common KPIs mainly in healthcare and environment subjects and continually evaluate it as the concrete outcomes of our commitment. We also control ourselves to keep maximum consideration for protection of environment, human rights, worker and firm attitude against corruption in the execution of our business. In addition, will play a major role in promoting orchestrated activities among industrial and academic society.
< Tackling problems of drug resistant bacteria >As MA-T shows anti-microbes are affected by non-pharmacological mechanism, it is free from a risk to generate drug resistant microbes. Therefore, if we reduce antibiotics use by complementary utilization of MA-T in the control of infectious disease, we can manage the threat of generating drug resistant microbes. We will also promote the understanding and practice of appropriate disinfectant use by educatiing the recipients of drugs, facility managers, medical and co-medical staffs in the world.
Timeline or milestones by the achievement of the commitment, KPI for monitoring activities
We will focus on the following indicators within the countries, regions and institutions covered by the project.
- Change in mortality rates (IMR, U5MR) from pneumonia and infectious diseases (IMR, U5MR) [%] among newborns, infants and children under 5 years.
- Change in the number of cases due to postpartum fever
- Change in maternal mortality rate (MMR) due to postpartum fever [%].
- Change in the number of malaria cases
- Change in mortality rate [%] due to malaria
- Indexes related to tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases (e.g. dengue fever)
To monitor and improve the above figures, the following KPIs are set for each phase.
KPIs related to Phase 1
Organizations and partners: The number of participating organizations in the industry association and the number of partner organizations and companies involved in infectious disease control
Disclosure: Media releases [number], website traffic [number], media (television, radio, press and social media) coverage [number].
KPIs related to Phase 2
Scientific validation: The number of papers and conference presentations related to scientific validation on infectious disease control [times].
Environment: results of environmental impact monitoring and evaluation [number].
KPIs related to Phase 3
Health care administration: regulatory approvals, procurement and development costs [dollars]
Stable supply of products: annual production as a sanitizer and disinfectant [liters], capital investment in production [dollars], sales of GMP-produced products [dollars].
KPIs related to Phase 4
Public institutions: Funding support procured at the United Nations [dollars], countries procured [number], guidelines where MA-T has been adopted as a preventive measure against infectious diseases [number], the number of guidebooks published [number of copies].
Facilities/hospitals: facilities that have adopted MA-T as an infectious disease control measure[number], the numbers and understanding levels of participants of training programmes, skills and behavioral changes.
Precondition for achieving the commitment
- Establishment and continued operation of industrial associations and academic societies
- Finding people who are willing to work with us as a partner to achieve our commitments
- Medium and long-term business plans that enable us to raise funds such as grants for joint research projects
- Approaching public institutions, we must obtain administrative approval and recognition
- Obtaining regulatory approval in Japan, Europe and the United States, and obtaining a PQ from the UN.
Role and responsibility of each partner
- National universities : Scientific verification of the effectiveness of infection control measures and collaboration for pharmaceutical approval
- Earth Corporation : Pre-clinical research Provision of drug samples for clinical research Planning of regulatory strategies
- Pharmaceutical companies (undecided) : clinical trials in Japan, domestic sales and development of disinfectants in advanced overseas countries
- Industry Association : Proposal for UN procurement to the government and UN
References
（*）International Patent Publication Number WO/2017/104798 A1
Contact information
Company: Earth Corporation Co., ltd
Person in charge: Aya Tabata, Nirohisa Nakada, CSR/CSV/Sustainability Section, Business Development Dept. Group Management Headquarters
E-Mail: tabata-aya "at” earth.jp、nakada-hirohisa "at” earth.jp
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editor：All contents including photos provided by Earth Corporation
