A CUTTING edge company is opening a manufacturing plant in Knutsford creating up to 50 new jobs.

Groundbreaking biotech company SpectrumX has signed a lease for a new production facility to manufacture its pioneering non-alcohol hand sanitiser, Spectricept, and a range of other innovative pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

SpectrumX is one of the few UK medical and research companies supplying nonalcohol based sanitisers to the NHS and is lobbying Government to endorse non-alcohol products, especially in schools.

MP Esther McVey joined operations director Ben Hibbert and general manager Richard Jones to visit the proposed 16,000 sq ft unit at Novus on Parkgate Industrial Estate.

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The company is delighted that the Tatton MP has pledged support for their campaign following a number of safety concerns and scares relating to the use of alcohol sanitisers in schools.

In April this year a six-year-old child in Australia was treated in hospital for alcohol poisoning after consuming 30ml of an alcohol-based sanitiser provided by his school.

A much more common side effect of having alcohol sanitisers around children is eye irritation following inevitable hand to eye contact.

Using data from French poison control and a children's hospital in Paris, researchers reported that accidental eye injuries to children under age 18 shot up sevenfold during a five-month period last year, compared to 2019.

Spectrum X’s safer schools through science 'Say No to Alcohol' campaign aims to prevent children suffering any harm through exposure to a substance which should not be accessible to them.

Speaking during her visit to the Knutsford site, Esther McVey said: “I very much welcome SectrumX’s investment in Knutsford and the jobs they will be creating. They are developing products that promise to be highly effective in the on-going fight against Covid-19.

"I am keen to promote alcohol-free sanitisers in circumstances where there is a risk to health and safety and I will be supporting SpectrumX and other producers in putting the case to the Government."

The product produced by SpectrumX is more potent than alcohol yet, does not have the associated side effects. Its active ingredient,HOCl, is naturally produced by our white blood cells to fight infection in the body.

SpectrumX operations director Ben Hibbert, said: “The support we have had from everyone involved in the delivering the facility has been fantastic.

"Once people understand what we are looking to produce and the benefits that will be delivered across a range of key sectors, they want to be involved.”

The site is planned to be compliant to the medicals and healthcare products regulatory agency (MHRA) by the end of the year to allow for local production of the powerful antiviral SPC-069.

Chief executive officer Damien Hancox said: “We’re delighted to have secured a long-term sustainable site to allow us to aggressively grow our business.

"Additionally, the talent pool available here in the north west is exceptional and we look forward to growing the SpectrumX family significantly in the very near future.”