Angelini Pharma Inc., the American business unit of Italian pharmaceutical company Angelini, announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved expanded claims for its 1:10 Dilution Alcavis Bleach Wipes, to include Clostridium difficile (commonly referred to as C. diff), and Angelini plans to launch this new product in March 2017.

C. diff is a spore-forming, Gram-positive anaerobic bacillus that is estimated to cause almost half a million infections per year in the United States, and 29,000 deaths within 30 days of the initial diagnosis.

Alcohol, general antiseptics and standard EPA-registered hospital disinfectants are not effective against C. diff. For this reason C. diff represents a challenge for hospital infection control practitioners in the fight to avoid Hospital-Acquired Infections.

Alcavis Bleach Wipes, 1:10 Dilution are approved for the disinfection of patient care equipment and hard, non-porous environmental surfaces. They were originally approved by the EPA to be effective against bacteria and organisms including Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, TB, MRSA and VRE. The addition of C. diff is expanding the range to very resistant spore producing pathogens.

In the field of infection prevention, Angelini is providing healthcare professionals with a range of sanitizing and disinfectant treatment options for hands, hand held devices, surfaces, water, and medical devices.

“One of our key strategic goals is to expand our offering in our core segments of infection prevention and wound care. Launching a new surface disinfectant that is effective against C. diff will be our third new product launch in the last six months, and we look forward to introducing another new product very soon. We have a great team at Angelini Pharma. I am excited with our progress to date, and our future,” says Todd Maddock, chief executive officer of Angelini Pharma Inc.