Proactive Investors - Shares in Byotrol Plc (LON:BYOT) jumped 10% to 2.08p after its application for medical applications based on the anti-viral properties of extracts from commonly available brown seaweed won UK patent approval.
This patent gives the specialist infection prevention and control company "validated, valuable and protected intellectual property, to support the development of commercial relationships", it said.
Seaweed extracts are not as yet approved as active materials for biocidal products in the UK or Europe, so the company said it is now "actively exploring alternative applications in very sizeable markets such as over-the-counter (OTC) products for the prophylactic treatment of viral conditions including colds, flu, coronaviruses and cold sores".
Byotrol's laboratories at Thornton Science Park, part of the University of Chester, have been working on the research for many years, it said, supported by the University of Liverpool and government funding.
Chairman Dr Trevor Francis said: "We are delighted to have secured the first patent for our seaweed-based anti-viral technologies... It also adds to our already significant level of intellectual property in antimicrobials."