Useful Invention in the Making at UP

In the past few months, the value of different hygiene products and substances rose substantially due to understandable circumstances. However, researchers at the University of Pécs Faculty of Pharmacy’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy and the Department of Pharmacognosy have been working on the development of a special hand gel with disinfecting properties well before the coronavirus outbreak. Based on the contracting party’s expectations this gel could prove to be effective against bacteria and viruses as well. The next step in the development process will be to test the substance’s hand sanitizing properties.

The concept of this special gel was the idea of Dr. Györgyi Horváth, associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, assistant lecturer Ámanné Dr. Anna Takácsi-Nagy is leading the research and development process.

Dr. Györgyi Horváth has previously presented her idea at the Open University.

“The most important attribute of this gel is that unlike the currently commercially available substances it is made of 100% natural ingredients.”

- emphasized Dr. Györgyi Horváth.

The employees University of Pécs had the opportunity to test the substance and share their experiences with the developers.

The associate professor told us: “We chose the ingredients based on their sanitizing properties which are supported by scientific studies. At the same time, I must emphasize that it will take numerous officially accredited laboratory tests and permissions before the gel could be categorized as hand sanitizer. However, the preliminary tests conducted at UP Medical School’s Microbiology Laboratory yielded more than promising results.

The first tests verified its effectiveness against bacteria and we are hoping for similar results in future tests against viruses.”

- said the associate professor.

Our ultimate goal is to create a commercial product that can be utilized on a broad scale. The commercialization and authorization processes are supported by the Technology Transfer Center.

The UP employees could volunteer to try out the product – this article’s author took this opportunity too. Summing up the experiences we can state that the gel is soft and creamy, it spreads across the hand easily and it smells pleasant. The idea behind the employee trials was to share the user experiences on an online forum to let the developers know how to adjust the components’ proportions if needed in a way that does not subtract from the effectiveness and the usability of the product.

Following the qualification and authorization process, they are planning to make the product publicly available. The product is the UP’s intellectual property, which has won an 8 million HUF support through an internal tender of the University of Pécs.