Natural flu killers will add zest to turnover

Jun 12 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

A BIOTECHNOLOGY company working to help stop the spread of swine flu expects to increase its turnover from £2m to £3m as it looks to launch its first range of high street products.

Middlesbrough firm Phytologica is launching a range of naturally derived protective gels and sprays which it hopes to sell through Boots stores nationwide by the end of the year to help boost turnover at its parent company.

The firm is part of family business Citrox, which is based on the same site at Riverside Park and specialises in the supply of concentrated formulas to the pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors as well as producing medical disinfectants.

Citrox, which was launched in 2003 and employs 10 people, is looking to increase its turnover by £500,000 to £2.5m by the end of the year, with the intention of nearing the £3m mark soon after. The Sosonatural range, which will also include foams, soaps, oral and surface sprays, has been in development for more than two years and was originally a response to the global threat of the H5N1 bird flu virus in 2006.

The products have since been accredited for the prevention of the H1N1 swine flu virus, which has continued to spread throughout Europe with a further 42 people in England and one in Northern Ireland having been diagnosed, bringing the UK total to 750.

Phytologica managing director Christopher Ripley said: “We are preparing people for protection, not cure. There has been a huge surge in interest in personal care products since the swine flu outbreak and it is important that people continue to heed the advice that good basic hygiene is the best defence against flu viruses.”

He said the company was working on a throat spray and that the range had passed rigorous tests at the Retroscreen Virology laboratory in London, where it had been proved to kill 99.999% of viruses in less than one minute.

Citrox, which won the Innovation category at the 2007 North East Business Awards run by The Journal and Evening Gazette, was set up by Mr Ripley’s brother Ian, a former development chemist who set out to make a steriliser from fruit acids and orange extracts.

Christopher Ripley said: “The new products not only clean and sanitise in a more effective way, they also eliminate the need for paper, water and soap, so there is a significant reduction in the use of resources and costs.

“Phytologica will have a big part to play in the future of Citrox and ensure that the brand is known by a wider number of people.”