Amyris launches squalene-based hand sanitizer

I am trying to contain my shopping addiction nowadays with just the occasional hunt for necessities like wearable masks and gloves, disinfecting cleaners and sprays, antibacterial soaps, and hand sanitizers, among other ‘fight COVID-19’ essentials. Thankfully toilet paper, wipes and paper towels are plentiful in my neighbourhood. Yes, I also gave in to buying a UV light sanitizer but I am not sure if this works with coronavirus.

A few days ago, I just purchased Amyris’s newly-launched Pipette hand sanitizer in an 8 oz bottle although I was hoping for the availability of a 32 oz bottle. Amyris announced late last month the launch of its hand sanitizer under its No Compromise® Pipette baby care branded products which became available online as of April 9.  The hand sanitizer can be used by anyone and it contains 65% USP plant-based ethyl alcohol, glycerine and Amyris’s sugarcane-derived squalene (for moisturising benefit).  It also contains acrylates polymer (a thickener) and sodium hydroxide (for pH adjuster). The 8 oz bottle was actually reasonably-priced and comparable to other retailed bottled hand sanitizer price in the same volume. The best news of all is it is still available online as hand sanitizers are mostly sold out in retail stores.

Amyris said this product is focused on high-performance cleaning while being healthy for your hands. The company plans to donate part of the supply to front-line health staffers and medical personnel. Amyris expected to produce an estimated 30,000 units in the first weeks and to quickly expand production with the short-term goal of reaching 1 million units monthly. According to news sources, Amyris sold in excess of $1.5 million during the first three days after launch, and the company continues to experience very strong demand.

Another announcement from Amyris is its recent partnership with the Infectious Diseases Research Institute (IDRI), and that the partnership has reportedly completed initial testing of its fermentation-derived squalene as a vaccine adjuvant.  The company is in active discussion with a leader in the pharmaceutical industry to target a broad application of Amyris squalene in flu and potential COVID-19 vaccines.

Amyris said it is reviewing several other fermentation-based molecules for potential efficacy in the treatment of COVID-19 and are quickly moving several of these into testing.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Tecnon OrbiChem just published my latest special report covering the COVID-19 pandemic (subscription only) and how the biofuels industry, as well as several renewable chemicals companies, have been helping out to minimize the horrific deaths caused by this pandemic. I will blog more on some of these companies.

For those who have been asking me about the potential effects of this pandemic on the bio-based chemicals market, I will be updating the Executive Summary and Market Review of my report ‘Commercialisation Updates on Bio-based Building Blocks’ which was published by Nova Institute in February.