Specialty chemicals company Momar, Inc. partners with the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) to produce a new hand sanitizer formulation. Seven thousand gallons of the hand sanitizer were donated to local medical facilities in the state to help in the fight against COVID-19, according to the company.
“We were very proud when the folks at GCMI and Georgia Tech called us to help, and we of course answered the call immediately,” says Momar’s third-generation owner and CEO Julian Mohr, Jr. about being contacted by the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI) requesting assistance with production of a new hand sanitizer developed by professors at Georgia Tech.
The new formula will reportedly alleviate sanitizer shortages by replacing a key ingredient of sanitizer — isopropanol, which was experiencing supply issues — with fuel-grade ethanol, which is readily available. The Georgia Tech team was the recipient of a donation from insurance provider Aflac, Incorporated, and needed help getting their formula from the lab bench to the production floor, according to Momar.
Additional organizations participated to donate raw materials and services, according to Momar; ethanol from Eco-Energy, hydrogen peroxide from Arkema, Inc. and water from Coca-Cola were delivered to PSG Functional Materials, which contributed mixing and packaging services.
“We brought our 75 years of manufacturing experience to bear, coordinating the formulary development, regulatory review, production and final distribution well short of the established deadline,” says Momar Chief Technical Officer West Gary. “Typically, product development would have taken months if not years; but with great partners, we were proud to complete it in just a few short weeks, meeting the extremely high quality standards of all of the contributors involved in this effort and resulting in an end product that contains 80% ethyl alcohol and meets World Health Organization guidelines.”
Georgia Tech and Momar reportedly delivered the hand sanitizer to medical facilities including Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta and Brightmoor Assisted Living in Griffin, Georgia.
For more information, visit: www.momar.com
