Leading medtech firm Creo Medical has secured a £2m loan from the Cardiff Capital Region to develop a plasma sterilisation product that kills bacteria and viruses, including Covid-19.
The loan from the Cardiff Capital Region's £1.2bn City Deal, which will be repaid over five years, will support the Chepstow-based firm's emerging cool plasma technology.
Creo is an Alternative Investment Market listed medical devices firm specialising in the emerging field of surgical endoscopy.
It said initial testing of its plasma technology has demonstrated its effectiveness for "Covid-19 inactivation and decontamination."
Creo believes it also has the potential for use in wound care, medical device sterilisation, PPE sterilisation, endoscope sterilisation to kill the bacteria associated with urinary tract infections, as well as general sterilisation and cleaning of enclosed environments within the service and transport sectors.
The five-year loan will ultimately support the creation of Creo’s plasma division, which will focus on the use of Creo’s CROMA advanced energy platform to create safe environments through sterilisation and decontamination.
While not disclosed it is understood that the loan's interest rate has a commercial rate of around 3.5%.
While cash rich, having raised a further £50m through the issuing of new equity in December, that finance is ring fenced for Creo's core endoscopy business.
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Its chief executive technology officer Chris Hancock said: " The cool plasma technology was one of Creo’s very early projects, which was originally focused on hand sanitisation.
I’m delighted that we are able to advance this technology which has a variety of applications. The current pandemic has highlighted the need to focus on technology that can limit the spread of coronavirus and I am excited that we have support from the Cardiff Capital Region to commercialise our patented technology as part of our Covid-19 response.
"The backing of the Cardiff Capital Region provides us with the opportunity to further leverage the infrastructure in Wales and the network of support being provided for innovative businesses like Creo.”
The Cardiff Capital Region, made up of the ten local authorities of south east Wales, has been asked to comment and whether the banks or other private funders could have provided the finance required by Creo.