Corning and Nippon Paint Announce Launch of Antimicrobial Paint in China

Nippon Paint Containing Corning Guardiant Antimicrobial Particles shown to kill 99.9% of the virus that causes COVID-19

CORNING, NY, Dec. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) and Nippon Paint China (Nippon Paint) today announced the commercial launch of Nippon Paint’s first antiviral kid’s paint in China. The paint, which Nippon Paint calls Nippon Kid's Odour-Less All In One Interior Emulsion Paint-Anti Bacteria Plus (Nippon Kid’s Paint), formulated for use in spaces where children spend the most time, contains Corning Guardiant, a novel antimicrobial paint additive. Corning Guardiant contains the most bioactive form of copper (cuprous ions, Cu+1) encased in a special glass-ceramic powder that enables its controlled release for killing germs.

Last month, Corning announced breakthrough test results demonstrating paints formulated with Corning Guardiant showed 99.9% kill of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on the coated surfaces in less than two hours. Surfaces coated with Nippon Kid’s Paint also showed greater than 99.9% kill of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These tests were conducted using rigorous test protocols approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

Results on the SARS-CoV-2 virus were obtained using test methods that simulate invisible contamination on dry surfaces. Coatings containing additives such as silver and zinc pass traditional “wet” contamination test methods, but do not perform well under more realistic dry test conditions. Nippon Kid’s Paint demonstrates effectiveness under both wet and dry test conditions. The paint also shows >99.9% kill against gram positive bacteria such as Staphylocccus aureus, Gram negative bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and small non-enveloped viruses such as Feline calicivirus (FCV) on the coated surfaces under dry test conditions. The ability to kill a broad spectrum of germs including small, non-enveloped viruses, the hardest-to-kill category of viruses based on their susceptibility to disinfectants, is a key value proposition of paint coatings containing Guardiant.

“Technology innovation is the core of our sustainable development and the cornerstone of our collaboration with Corning. Adopting Corning’s latest copper ion antimicrobial technology – Corning Guardiant^TM, Nippon Kid’s Paint can effectively and efficiently kill a variety of viruses and bacteria. As the demand for antiviral heats up, we believe that science and technology will create more value for consumers and enable future paints that offer both beautiful and healthy surroundings,” said Eric Chung, president of Nippon Paint China.