This represented some risks to two top researchers, since the necessary consequences were neither scientific publications could be submitted nor even posters or presentations could be held. Possibilities for funding were almost non-existent for technology transfer and this work remained a side project for many years to come.

João Silva’s work was focused on nanoporous materials (sometimes called nanocarriers), which can be used to deliver gaseous molecules with therapeutic interest, while Fernando Antunes’ central work was in hydrogen peroxide biology.

The combined expertise resulted in a research project focused initially on developing materials that would entrap hydrogen peroxide and then tailor them to control the hydrogen peroxide release rate, so that therapeutic doses could be achieved. The foreseen applications for this technology were wound healing and diabetes. However, several events shifted the project towards bio-decontamination – the current Delox project.

In 2015, Fadhil Musa joined the team as a biochemistry master student, having conducted his thesis under Fernando and João’s supervision, in this exact topic. In the following year, Fernando and Fadhil participated in COHiTEC, an intensive program whose goal is to accelerate technology projects and that initiated a chain of events that culminated in the project’s pivot from diabetes and wound healing to bio-decontamination.

First, an experimental finding in which the DeloxHP yield was considerably higher than the initial assessments demonstrated potential for applications in which a high amount of hydrogen peroxide was required.

Second, the team realized that DeloxHP technology enabled easy vaporization of hydrogen peroxide (in opposition to a release in aqueous solution, necessary in therapies). Meanwhile, advice from COHiTEC mentors, the better technology-market fit and the much higher funding requirement for the pursuance of therapies, directed the project to bio-decontamination.

All of this was coupled to the identification of multiple problems that bio-decontamination had been trying to solve: Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI) and microbial contamination in general. Delox technology DeloxHP (initially dryVHP, coined to represent the solid formulation against liquid solutions) had several technological advantages over current solutions, holding the potential to solve current market’s problems, the decisive point for the team to completely pivot the project.

Thus, by the end of 2016, the bio-decontamination project was born and named Delox, through the agglutination of “delivery” and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), reflecting Delox’s technology capacity of releasing hydrogen peroxide (a ROS) vapor – Delox.