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  • As the coronavirus death toll overtakes the 2002 SARS outbreak, demand for Holista Colltech’s (HCT) NatShield sanitising spray has risen once again
  • Holista will now ship a further 90,000 units to Kuala Lumpur after the original top-up of 60,000 bottles sold out within weeks
  • As of last Saturday, the total confirmed orders for Natshield reached 107,000, far exceeding the original 60,000 unit shipment
  • On the back of NatShield’s success, HCT also intends to launch an antiviral nasal balm as another form of protection in July
  • HCT shares are up 34.8 per cent on the back of this morning’s news, trading for 15.5 cents apiece

As the coronavirus death toll overtakes the 2002 SARS outbreak, demand for Holista Colltech’s (HCT) NatShield sanitising spray has risen once again.

Holista will now ship a further 90,000 units to Kuala Lumpur after the original top-up of 60,000 bottles sold out within weeks.

The company received fresh orders for the NatShield sanitising spray from Malaysia, Australia and other parts of Asia as the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise.

As of last Saturday, the total confirmed orders for Natshield reached 107,000, far exceeding the original 60,000 unit shipment.

910 lives have been lost since the coronavirus became a threat on New Year’s Eve, 2019. The vast majority of deaths recorded have occurred in Hubei, the Chinese province where the outbreak began.

Now, the death toll has surpassed that of the SARS virus, which took 774 lives from 2002 to 2003.

Over 40,000 coronavirus cases have been diagnosed worldwide, with 64 outside China. 15 cases have been discovered on our home turf, currently all along the east coast or in South Australia.

Path-Away paves the way

Holista’s NatShield sanitising spray contains a plant-derived antimicrobial compound known as Path-Away, a non-toxic defence approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The compound harnesses an active organic substance that cripples a virus’ cell walls, causing bacteria to group together and destroy themselves within seconds.

Global Infection Control Consultants, creators of the Path-Away technology, have previously said the compound had proven effective against known strands of the coronavirus and would be tested on the Wuhan-based development.

On the back of NatShield’s success, HCT also intends to launch an anti-viral nasal balm as another form of protection.

The new product, which should be available in July 2020, uses the Path-Away compound found in the NatShield sanitising spray.

Healthcare sector follows suit

Holista follows a trend of other ASX players within the healthcare sector who are trading green as they fight the coronavirus.

Earlier this morning, New Zealand-based healthcare developer Zoono announced it had signed an agreement to exclusively deliver its antibacterial product suite to hotels and childcare centres in China.

Similar to Holista, Zoono uses antiviral technology to ‘physically kill’ microbes and bacteria it comes into contact with. Company shares tacked on a healthy 24.1 per cent following this morning’s announcement.

Meanwhile, other healthcare players like Biotron have said they will join the race to find a coronavirus cure. The biotech player announced last week it’s investigating 30 antivirus compounds which show potential.

HCT shares are up 34.8 per cent on the back of this morning’s news, trading for 15.5 cents apiece at 2:20 pm AEST. The company’s share price has nearly doubled since it announced a spike in sanitiser orders on January 29.

HCT by the numbers
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