INEOS Hygienics to be Official Hygiene Partner to OGC Nice

• INEOS is the world’s largest producer of high purity pharmaceutical grade synthetic alcohol which is the most effective product for killing viruses and bacteria and a key ingredient in sanitiser products. 
• Working with OGC Nice and Team INEOS, INEOS has supplied thousands of litres of hand sanitiser to French hospitals free of charge to meet the shortage as the country faced Covid-19. 
• As Official Hygiene Partner to OGC Nice, INEOS Hygienics will provide protocols and hospital grade sanitisers that will help to protect the OGC Nice team and staff, in Ligue 1 and the Europa League. 

INEOS has today become the Official Hygiene Partner to OGC Nice to help Le Gym to protect its team during training and competition so that they can perform at the highest level as they begin the new season. 

INEOS has long been producing the purest and most effective sanitising agent: pharmaceutical grade alcohol. As the world faced the Covid-19 crisis and a global shortage of hand sanitiser, INEOS, owner of OGC Nice, put its expertise to use, building six new hand sanitiser factories in Europe and the United States to produce highly effective sanitising products. Millions of bottles were given to thousands of hospitals free of charge to help workers on the front line and those that needed it most. 

Through OGC Nice’s Endowment Fund, the products have been given, free of charge, to Nice hospitals as well as to community associations that fight on a daily basis to help those most in need.

INEOS is now able to provide le Gym and the public the same hospital grade products, helping everyone to stop the spread of viruses and bacteria. Containing 75% alcohol as advised by The World Health Organisation, these products are effective at eliminating 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. They also ensure that after use, they evaporate quickly, and leave hands feeling clean and dry.  

As Official Hygiene Partner to OGC Nice, INEOS Hygienics will meet the sanitising needs of the club through a range of products including hand gels and sanitiser dispensers, extending to sanitiser sprays for hands and surfaces as well as sanitising wipes in the future.

George Ratcliffe, Chief Operating Officer of INEOS Hygienics, says: “I am pleased that INEOS Hygienics has become the Official Hygiene Partner to OGC Nice. Our range of hospital grade sanitisers will help to protect the OGC Nice team and staff, in Ligue 1 and the Europa League. Killing 99.9% of viruses and bacteria, our products give the team confidence to focus on getting the job done on the pitch. We are now able to offer that same level of protection to the fans and public. INEOS sanitiser products will be available to help us all to target viruses and bacteria with confidence at home, at work and beyond.”

Jean-Pierre Rivere, Chairman of OGC Nice says: "We are proud to have such a proactive shareholder as INEOS at our side, who mobilised resources to serve the greatest number of people at the height of the global pandemic. It is a guarantee of quality to be able to count on INEOS Hygienics to support us in setting up our protocol for our team's return to the stadium. And it is excellent news that the general public can now benefit from INEOS' expertise in this area.”

Jean-Philippe Gilardi, head of the club's medical department says: "We are doing everything possible to guarantee the best protection against the virus for our players and staff. INEOS Hygienics allows us to work with complete confidence and under the best conditions."

Throughout the season to come, OGC Nice will continue to support the fight against the spread of viruses and bacteria on a daily basis working alongside INEOS Hygienics.

INEOS Hygienics is also supporting elite sports teams return to training and competition, including six-time double world champions Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1, Sir Dave Brailsford’s Tour De France winners, Team INEOS and the UK challenger for the Americas Cup INEOS TEAM UK.

More information: https://www.ineoshygienics.com/fr

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

At INEOS, our business is to make the products that society needs. So when the coronavirus pandemic led to a global shortage of sanitizing products, we set about manufacturing and distributing the large volumes needed to meet the shortfall, firstly to health authorities, and then more broadly to all.

In just three months we installed new plants in the UK, Germany, France and the USA and are now producing five million bottles of hand sanitizer every month.

Alcohol based disinfectant has long been recognised by the scientific and medical communities as the simplest and most effective way of destroying both viruses and bacteria when soap and water is not readily available (ref 1). The viruses and bacteria cannot build up resistance (ref 2), meaning that no matter how often you use it, the cleansing effect will be just as good. Even where soap and water is available, alcohol provides an additional deep clean of viruses and bacteria that is quick and convenient (ref 3). Its use is standard procedure in health care environments and hospitals. And although the virus associated with Covid-19 is new, a study by Swiss and German scientists has already confirmed alcohol’s effectiveness at killing it (ref 4).

At the core of our sanitizer is our own high purity ethanol (1), which is manufactured under strictly controlled conditions to meet the specialist requirements of pharmaceutical, medical and other applications. Our product is free of impurities seen in many agricultural sources of ethanol and of concern to the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) (ref 5). Because of its high purity, it is already being used as a pharmaceutical grade reagent to purify RNA and DNA in the UK’s covid-19 testing programme.

In contrast with many suppliers, we formulate our sanitizer hand gel with 75% alcohol, as advised by The World Health Organization (ref 6), the US FDA, and health services in Europe. This ensures that it is effective in eliminating 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. It also ensures that, after use, it evaporates quickly, and leaves hands feeling clean and dry.

In responding to extraordinary circumstances, our first instinct was to supply the UK’s National Health Services and other European health services free of charge to see them through the peak. From project go-ahead to first deliveries took just 10 days. Now, with production ramped up and the initial peak of demand met, our sanitizer range is available through a wide range of retailers.

As the world’s largest manufacturer of high purity synthetic ethanol, steeped in safety and operational excellence in a highly regulated environment, we are uniquely placed to assure continuity of supply and the highest levels of product quality.

Notes

(1) Isopropanol can be substituted for ethanol but provides the same level of purity and sanitizing performance. INEOS is also a major manufacturer of isopropanol.

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings: Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force. MMWR 2002;51(No. RR16):[1-56].
2. Kampf and Kramer, Clin Microbiol Rev. 2004 Oct; 17(4): 863–893.  
3. Todd et al, Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 73, No. 11, 2010, Pages 2128–2140
4. Kratzel A, Todt D, V’kovski P, Steiner S, Gultrom M, Thao TTN, et al. Inactivation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by WHO-recommended hand rub formulations and alcohols. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 April 13^th 2020. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2607.200915
5. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/guidance-compliance-regulatory-information/guidances-drugs
6. https://www.who.int/gpsc/information_centre/handrub-formulations/en/

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Media Contacts

Nicolas Bernard (OGC Nice)                               0033 6 63 54 96 99

Richard Longden (INEOS)                                   0041 21 627 7063 or 0041 7996 26123

Mark Killick (Media Zoo)                                    020 7052 4838 or 07836 634449

Andrew McLachlan (Media Zoo)                        020 7384 6980 or 07931 37716