Boots Advanced First Aid Anti Viral Hand Foam provides long-lasting protection and is proven to kill 99.9 per cent of a wide range of viruses and harmful bacteria. This effective product was brought to market to meet a key consumer need in just 12 weeks.

Back in the summer of 2009 the threat of H1N1 virus or swine flu caused widespread concern. Customers told us they wanted an anti viral handwash that could offer some protection from the epidemic by killing infection-causing germs when they were out and about.

At just this point a UK based company, Byotrol, had developed something that really interested us. When their technology came into contact with a bacteria or virus it was able to puncture the microbe and immediately kill it. As this was a physical rather than chemical process the bacteria could not adapt and build a defence, making Byotrol’s protection impenetrable.

Our product development team at the Boots Technical Centre worked in conjunction with Byotrol’s scientists to develop the Boots Advanced First Aid Anti Viral Hand Foam. The robustness of this innovation enabled us to substantiate more impressive claims than any other hand sanitising product on the market at the time.

Since November 2009 this great example of collaborative innovation has been available in 2,500 stores and is also sold online at www.boots.com