RE: 1) While benzalkonium chloride is a quarternary ammonium compound, the active ingredient that Zoono refers to on the website is a quarternary ammonium compound which 'originates from natural sand' - ie. NOT benzalkonium chloride. Instead, I believe it is referring to dimethyloctadecyl[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]ammonium chloride which you will also find on the packaging: https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/fda/fdaDrugXsl.cfm?setid=2e944b6c-f592-541a-e054-00144ff8d46c&type=display
To be fair, it's confusing in that on the label above benzalkonium chloride is listed as the active ingredient while the other compound is listed as an inactive ingredient. I believe this is because benzalkonium is still used as the typical active antiseptic (ie. dettol), whereas the other compound is the 'true' active ingredient but not yet widely accepted as one? Perhaps someone else could shed light on this, as well as checking the label on more recent packaging.
The following link discusses the role of dimethyloctadecyl[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]ammonium chloride as the active ingredient in Zoono. I'm not sure why it's not explained this way on the actual Zoono site. Again, perhaps someone else could shed light on this? https://clearmould.co.nz/the-technology/
RE: 2) Regarding information from this link: https://www.tga.gov.au/surrogate-viruses-use-disinfectant-efficacy-tests-justify-claims-against-covid-19, the last line on the page is 'If coronaviruses other than the specified surrogates are to be used, contact...' This suggests to me that if the surrogate viruses Human coronavirus 229E OR Murine hepatitis virus are not available, you can contact the department and there will be other acceptable surrogates. Sounds like the Bovine and Feline coronaviruses are acceptable given they're named on the page.
Also note that suggested surrogate Human coronavirus 229E (HCoV) is of the Alphacoronavirus genus, as is the Feline coronavirus (FCoV). COVID-19 however is of the Betacoronavirus genus, along with the other suggested surrogate Murine hepatitis virus (MCoV - murine referring to mice), so it seems that authorities are not too fussed about which genus the surrogate comes from. Indeed if you look through the study you cited above, they're testing on a whole range of coronaviruses from either genus - many of which also are not listed as suggested surrogates by the TGA. Given these two points, I'm comfortable with Zoono's claim that the Feline coronavirus is an acceptable surrogate. Zoono had even previously been tested on Bovine coronavirus of the Betacoronavirus genus (same as COVID-19), however were compelled to go back and test on the Feline coronavirus even though it's of a different genus!
To be fair to you, it was quite difficult to find specific information anywhere on what makes an acceptable surrogate virus for COVID-19. It seems that the industry just tests a range of coronaviruses and assumes they would all respond the same way. The list you provided suggests the same.
I do understand your view that we can't be 100% sure that Zoono would be effective on COVID-19 until it is actually tested on it. However it seems Zoono has already achieved the industry standard in testing, and has shown that it is effective against other closely-related coronaviruses to an industry standard. I'm happy with that
PS. On my coronavirus studies tonight, I learned that there are seven different human coronaviruses. Four of these tend to cause symptoms of a typical common cold, while the other three are MERS, SARS and today's COVID-19. There's also a ton of other oddly-specific coronaviruses in animals like the Alpaca coronavirus and the Beluga whale coronavirus which I find amusing.
ZNO Price at posting:
$1.59 Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
