These fabric face masks are selling like hot cakes

Customers are scrambling to buy Livinguard face masks, which cost around CHF 30 each. Company founder Sanjeev Swamy explains why they are still not being seen in hospitals.

Interview with Sanjeev Swamy, founder and CEO of the Livinguard technology company

You have developed a protective mask that destroys viruses (see box). How is the business going?
Sanjeev Swamy: It's going very, very well. We sold 50,000 to 60,000 masks through our Swiss webshop in September alone . Pharmacies and partner shops also sell our mask. In October, we will probably sell twice as many as in September. In addition, there are direct sales to various large companies. Companies such as Zug Cantonal Bank, the Partners Group or Amag have bought our masks for their employees.

What about other countries?
In Germany, for example, sales are five times as high as in Switzerland. We currently sell around 1.5 million masks per month worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of our masks are already in circulation in Singapore, and millions more are expected to follow over the next year, with the aim of equipping the entire population.

In June, you said that your Zug workforce would double from 20 to 40 people by the end of the year. Have you achieved the goal?
We have already reached 40 employees in Zug, and by the end of the year it will be around 50, next year 70 to 80. We have hired many specialists to take care of the further development of the technology, but the administration, marketing, sales and, above all, the regulatory tasks are carried out from Zug. Our workforce is also growing in other countries.

Did you expect this success?
No, I didn’t expect such quantities. We didn’t develop these masks specifically because of the corona crisis. We have been in this business for a long time: we used the technology in 2017 for masks that protect against tuberculosis. But the Corona crisis has provided the opportunity to expand the technology.

Sanjeev Swamy
The 59-year-old Sanjeev Swamy, who is originally from India, is the founder and managing director of the technology company Livinguard, based in the city of Zug.

The University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland has recently tested various masks for the "Beobachter" magazine. Your fabric mask achieved the level "good" in the test. But only if you don't wash them at 60°C. After a 60°C wash, the filter effect of the Livinguard mask reduces to 52%, according to the test.
A face mask is usually washed at 60°C if you want to disinfect it. But our masks don't have to be disinfected, because our technology ensures that they continually disinfect themselves. Livinguard masks should be washed anyway, of course, but not at such high temperatures: washing by hand and cold washing is enough.

Hospitals usually do not allow the wearing of fabric masks. Why?
Fabric masks that are not treated with Livinguard technology, and therefore do not disinfect themselves, can become a breeding place for germs. Cross-contamination is the biggest concern in hospitals, so fabric masks are not allowed. Our mask is treated, however, so it  could be worn. We are working with the authorities to obtain appropriate certifications for hospitals, because this is currently preventing their use in practice: it is currently simply not possible for hospitals and other institutions to quickly and unambiguously check whether a mask meets their protection requirements.

Are there any freeloaders trying to copy your invention?
We have only seen one potential patent infringement so far, but we are in contact with this company, and it is prepared to solve the problem bilaterally. Competition is good, but we must protect our invention, of course. Speaking of protection: the most important thing is, of course, the protection of the wearer, his/her fellow human beings and the environment. I would like to point out that not all masks are the same, and this applies for both disposable face masks and re-usable fabric masks. And not all so-called antiviral masks are the same; there are many different approaches and not all have been proven to be harmless and tolerable for human lungs and skin, as well as for our environment.

Will we be able to buy the Livinguard mask in retail stores?
Some Landi stores offer our mask, Aldi Suisse has also shown interest and we are represented at Edeka in Germany. The idea is to be present in the retail trade, but the larger retailers only want to sell masks that are certified by the Empa material testing institute.

Why don't you have your mask certified by Empa?
We are in contact with Empa on this matter. There is also the idea of a kind of Swiss national face mask. Our technology would be suitable for this.

The ski season is now beginning. Do you also make so-called neck tubes?
Yes, our tube masks will be on the market in two to three weeks. A new series of masks, which we call "sports mask", is also on its way to the world market and will be there in time for the ski season – and will be also available on the Swiss market, of course. We have also developed gloves, each with the same virus-repellent technology. Our gloves have been in use since Tuesday, for example, at the Zuger Filmtage.

How the technology works
Carrier materials, such as textiles that have been treated with Livinguard technology, have around 24 billion charges per square centimetre. They act as a magnet for viruses and bacteria. The treatment thereby creates a positively-charged "magnet" for the negatively charged viruses and bacteria. When these come into contact, these micro-organisms become attached to the material. The positively charged "magnet" is stronger than the negative charge of the microorganisms, so that the latter are overcome and burst. Once the micro-organisms have been destroyed, they lose their charge. They then fall away from the textile or can be washed off. Researchers from the Free University of Berlin and the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule have recently proven that this technology can permanently destroy pathogens on textiles and surfaces. A Livinguard mask costs around CHF 30. Because, according to the company, they can be reused up to 200 times and can be washed at least 30 times, they will be cheaper than conventional masks in the long term. All the Livinguard patents are registered in Switzerland, and the fabric of every Livinguard mask sold in Switzerland is provided with Livinguard technology by Cilander AG in Herisau, with the masks being manufactured in different countries.