The World is One Large Coronavirus Cleanroom Market

We live in a world where the coronavirus plays a major role now and for the foreseeable future.  What we are finding is that this virus can travel in small droplets released by the lungs or on small particles of which there is no shortage. We breath in and exhale millions of tiny particles every hour. With this new finding we need to turn to the cleanroom experts who have been focused on eliminating small particles from the air for 60 years.

These experts and the products and services they offer provide an essential resource for mitigating the virus. McIlvaine is assisting by providing the suppliers with forecasts of the market opportunities in the broader vision of the world as one big coronavirus clean room market.

World Cleanroom Markets forecasts the revenues of rooms, components, masks and other consumables for all industries including biopharmaceuticals and hospitals. http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/markets/other/n6f-world-cleanroom-markets

Cleanroom Technology Solutions with daily alerts and webinars analyzes the masks, filters, and various other hardware and consumables which will allow a safe return to near normal life and work.  http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/markets/air/82ai-coronavirus-market-intelligence

Coronavirus Pharmaceutical Solutions tracks the progress to develop vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.  Bi-weekly Alerts are accompanied by detailed profiles of the developers and contract manufacturers who make mitigation possible.  June 3 Alert , Gilead Profile

All three of these services are being offered as a package and included with the World Cleanroom Markets report at no extra charge.

A supplier needs all three of these services to fully understand the opportunities and challenges created by COVID.

A cleanroom is defined in the ISO standard 14644-1 as:

“A room in which the concentration of airborne particles is controlled, and which is constructed and used in a manner to minimize the introduction, generation, and retention of particles inside the room and in which other relevant parameters, e.g. temperature, humidity, and pressure, are controlled as necessary”

6.2 million people have contracted COVID 19 in the last six months.  380,000 have died. With a problem of this magnitude caused in large part by an airborne virus we have to be thinking of the world as one big facility which needs to adopt cleanroom technology. The same strategy can be applied as would be applied to a pharmaceutical complex.

In a pharmaceutical facility there is likely to be a progression of clean spaces.

Ambient air in a typical city contains 500,000 or less particles 0.3 microns in diameter in each cubic foot. It also contains millions of smaller particles. An individual inhales the air with the particles and then exhales the CO2 and sends the particles back into the environment. A super spreader can be generating thousands of virus aerosols per minute. Some will be in small droplets caused by lung splashes. They may travel hundreds of yards. Those which attach to small particles can drift over a whole region e.g. Lombardy, Italy.  There is no knowledge as to what percentage is inactivated by distance traveled and what percentage is just dormant and ready to be revived in lung moisture.

There is research which indicates that the disease can be transmitted by as few as 10 virus particles. On the other hand, experts say that most is contracted through contact with large numbers of particles. As long as some of the COVID transmission is through aerosols there will be no fool proof way to prevent COVID transmission. A mitigation program has to therefore accept some risk and minimize the transmission as much as is economically possible.

This is the same strategy used in a pharmaceutical facility. Many pharmaceutical operations take place in space where the number of 0.3 micron particles is limited to 100 or less. Within that space there may be isolators where there is less than one 0.3 micron particle per cubic foot. When one leaves a less clean space and enters a cleaner area there are possibly air showers, garment changing and other procedures.

The decision on how clean to make each space is a function of risk and cost. The same principle applies to dealing with COVID. The protection effort needed on a crowded subway is much greater than a sparsely inhabited park. Suppliers have products to address varying levels of risk and reduction.

An advantage of the packaging of the three services is to determine the impact of one on the others. The massive effort to create vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics for COVID means that there will be reduced cleanroom revenues for cancer and other biopharmaceuticals.

For more details on this package contact Bob McIlvaine at 847 226 2391 or email him at 847 226 2391.

Mask Policy Webinar June 18

In the last few weeks public policy has changed considerably as people are now advised to wear masks when in public. In fact they are required to do so in many countries and cities in the U.S. However, there is no effort to advise or require the use of high efficiency masks which would prevent inhalation of virus aerosols. Since there is considerable new research to indicate that aerosols travel some distance and are a transmission route, the subject of mask selection becomes of utmost importance.

We are moving forward in preparation for the mask policy webinar which will be held on January 18 at 10:AM CDT to discuss and debate the proposition:

 Mask selection should be based on wearer needs first and then on needs of those at risk. 

Since COVID is now known to pass through surgical masks, the wearer will not be completely protected unless he has an N95 or better. Does this mean everyone should wear an N95 mask all the time?  A way to answer this question logically is through a measurement tool for all harm and good.

Bob McIlvaine explained a common metric to measure all harm and good in the April 2 webinar. A McIlvaine study for one of the largest healthcare companies on single use vs reusable surgical gowns is equally applicable to masks. The study includes a common metric to measure all harm and good and to also consider the future value discount and tribal values. Every alternative can be measured in Quality Enhanced Life Days. This includes the discomfort of wearing a mask vs the benefits.  It includes the possible selection of Far UV to reduce infection now even if it increases the chance of skin cancer many years into the future. It provides a clear method for determining who gets the ventilator and who does not. The tribal value consideration takes into account such questions as should 3M be required to ship masks, they produce in other countries back to the U.S.  It provides a method of determining when and if the risks of resuming the normal work schedule are justified. It is simple and straightforward because it is simply the aggregation of the wishes of the majority.

This proposition to prioritize the wearer needs is in conflict with certain ordinances which prohibit masks with valves. For example, Korean high schoolers wore masks without valves in a 1000-meter endurance test and two died. Should they have worn masks with valves, risked COVID, or should tests not be conducted? 

The general premise that all individuals if protected by highly efficient masks could lead near normal lives would be of high importance to world economic recovery. The support or rejection of this proposition rests on determination of the following factors.

Analysis of each of these factors is in a background  document found at  http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/2-uncategorised/1574-coronavirus-webinars

This background includes a number of webinars on mask selection which can be viewed.  It also includes a review of each of the mask selection factors under the link   Mask Policy Review

We will be updating the factor analysis continually. In the last few weeks more has been learned about decontamination options. One company claims that the antimicrobial layer in the mask will inactivate the virus. Therefore, if three masks are rotated with a 24-hour interval to insure deactivation then this will be sufficient. A number of companies are now offering washable masks. Decontamination with H2O2 and other chemical treatment is also proving successful.  With all these options the factors are performance vs cleaning cycle and cost.

We encourage readers and participants to submit their views. These insights should address the factors and what is already said about them in the background document. The session will be in a discussion format with each of the factors reviewed as warranted.

To register for the webinar Click here

Send your comments to Bob McIlvaine rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com 847 226 2391.