East Anglia-based infection and contamination control products company Tristel is hoping for a further sales boost following publication of a scientific study confirming the cost-effectiveness of its Wipes System.

In a randomised “blind” comparison of disinfectants used in ear, nose and throat clinics, Tristel’s wipes proved equally effective as disinfectants produced by giants Du Pont and Johnson & Johnson.

Du Pont’s PeraSafe peracetic acid disinfectant was used in a tray and Johnson & Johnson’s Cidex OPA ortho phthalaldehyde disinfectant was used in an automated washer-disinfector manufactured by Medvators. In contrast, the Wipes System from Tristel is a stand-alone product requiring no equipment, support building services or maintenance and the study concluded that it offered the lowest running cost, the greatest convenience and the fastest turnaround for medical instruments of the three products evaluated.

Preliminary findings from the study, which was conducted by the Bay of Plenty District Health Board in Tauranga, New Zealand, in 2011, were first presented at the 11th Congree for German Hopsital Hygiene in Berlin in March 2012 but the full study has now been published in the The Journal of Laryngology & Otology.

Paul Swinney, chief executive of Tristel, said: “We are pleased to see at long last the publication in a peer-reviewed journal of this significant study comparing our Wipes System with competitor products manufactured by two of the world’s major infection prevention companies.

“The results affirm the key advantages of our wipes over alternative chemistries and disinfection methods. This is the 25th peer-reviewed and published scientific paper featuring Tristel products, a body of evidence of our products’ attributes that forms one of our company’s key strengths.”

The Tristel Wipes System is a unique, patented, decontamination method for scopes and probes. It has already achieved significant sales success for the company globally, with worldwide sales in the financial year ending June 2016 expected to total around £8.7m.

Trstel, which is based at Snailwell, near Newmarket, is due to report its annual results next week. In a final trading update in July, it said that profits for the year to June 30 would come in ahead of market expectations, reaching at least £3.1m against £2.6m the previous year, with total sales set to be in excess of £17m, up from £15.3m a year ago.