The Swedish Chemicals Agency has evaluated and recommended approval of SoftOx
Solutions' disinfectant products, including Antivir. This creates the
opportunity for approval within all countries in the EU.

- This is an important milestone for SoftOx and brings us one step closer to the
goal of becoming a significant player within disinfection and hand hygiene. We
can now prepare for mutual approval processes and launches in a number of
European markets, says CEO Geir Almås of SoftOx Solutions.

The approval will now be forwarded to the Danish Environmental Protection Agency
and to the Norwegian Environment Directorate for parallel assessment and
ratification within 40 days.

WHO as a door opener

SoftOx Solutions' disinfectant is clinically proven to be skin-friendly, and the
product has undergone an extensive test regimen that proves the active
ingredient has a superior effect and a broader scope of effects than
alcohol-based solutions.

- The World Health Organization (WHO) has also opened up the possibility for
health workers to be offered an alternative to alcohol, and we at SoftOx are
confident that our product will be the skin-friendly alternative that the WHO
demands, says Almås in a comment.

Delayed sale

The National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) in Norway has not yet updated its
Hand Hygiene Guidelines to recommend active ingredients other than alcohol.
Unfortunately, the result has been that many potential customers, such as
kindergartens, schools and others in the retail market, have not chosen to use
SoftOx's products. The delay in the regulatory processes is directly related to
the situation with covid-19, which in turn means that SoftOx will not achieve
the sales targets that have been communicated to the market for 2020. On the
other hand, there is no doubt that this situation has created a significantly
greater market potential for our products.
- With today's approval from the Swedish Chemicals Agency, which has processed
the application on behalf of the EU and the Nordic countries, we are now in a
position where our hand disinfection product will be in line with the biocidal
regulations and the biocides regulation for the EU, and we expect and hope that
FHI now will carry out an update of the Hand Hygiene Guidelines to allow for
hand disinfection products approved in accordance with the EU's new regulations,
says Almås.

Bent Høie considers the possibility for non-alcoholic disinfectants
Minister of Health and Care Services Bent Høie has stated in a reply to
Parliament representative Kari K. Kjos (Frp) that Norway will be open to
non-alcoholic hand disinfectants if new products are approved by the Norwegian
Environment Directorate in accordance with the new EU regulations for biocides.

- SoftOx has now received a conditional approval from the central approval body
for disinfectant products in the EU, the Swedish Chemicals Agency, for review,
and it involves that we will satisfy the requirements of the biocidal
regulations as this approval is to be ratified by Denmark and Norway, says
Almås.

SoftOx has so far sold its hand disinfection products under a transitional and
preliminary arrangement pending final implemented regulations.

- A final approval will be an important foundation for our international
commitment to hand disinfection. We experience that there is a great demand for
skin-friendly products as an alternative to alcohol. This conditional approval
from the Swedish Chemicals Inspectorate has brought us significantly closer to
being able to compete with alcohol-based disinfection on equal terms and is
considered as a market breakthrough, also internationally, says Almås.