Franz Fayot, Luxembourg's Minister of the Economy;
Credit: MECO
On the sidelines of a visit to Technoport in Foetz on Wednesday, Luxembourg's Minister of the Economy, Franz Fayot, signed an agreement with the company Molecular Plasma Group (MPG) to co-finance a project on the development and production of innovative surgical masks with virucidal properties.
Hosted at Technoport, the startup has developed a unique technology based on the use of plasmas to optimise the protection of respiratory protection masks "made in Luxembourg" against COVID-19. MPG has perfected a surface treatment technology and made it compatible with an industrial production of “made in Luxembourg” surgical masks, in collaboration with the company Santé Services SA and a German company. The Luxembourg company has developed a process to make face masks “self-disinfecting”, with a virucidal coating that eliminates 99.9% of the viral load on the fabric of the mask within minutes.
The co-financing of the project is based on the aid regime of the Ministry of the Economy which supports industrial research and experimental development projects allowing the production and development of products contributing to the fight against the health crisis linked to COVID-19.
Founded in 2016 as a spin-off of the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) and the Flemish Institute for Technology Development (VITO), MPG currently employs thirteen people in the Grand Duchy. The company successfully participated in the “Fit4Start HealthTech” startup support programme from which it graduated in March 2019.
On the occasion of the signing of this agreement, Economy Minister Franz Fayot stated: “Innovating requires the will to see change as an opportunity. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is an indisputable vector of change. The MPG project is a good example. The company's history in Luxembourg demonstrates the maturity of the national ecosystem of health technologies that help fight the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Marc Jacobs, CEO of MPG, added: “The support of the Ministry of the Economy is a key factor which allows us to execute this R&D project in record time. Thanks to the support of all our Luxembourg partners, including research institutes, we will have a significant impact in the fight against COVID-19”.
