Ascend Performance Materials will be in the spotlight on Dec. 22, when CEO Phil McDivitt appears on CNBC's Mad Money show.
McDivitt will appear on the show via Zoom to discuss Ascend's Acteev technology, which attacks and deactivates microbes in fabrics and engineered plastics. Lab tests have found Acteev to be more than 99 percent effective against viruses, including the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, officials said.
A company spokesperson told Plastics News that McDivitt and Mad Money host Jim Cramer will be discussing Ascend's work to earn FDA approval for Acteev, as well as McDivitt's "vision of an Acteev world," with the technology protecting not only face masks but also medical scrubs, air filters, bedding, clothing and high-touch surfaces such as light switch plates and cellphone covers.
Mad Money airs on CNBC at 6 p.m. EST. Houston-based Ascend is working to gain approval for Acteev from the FDA and EPA.
"We wrote the protocols for our application because this technology has previously not existed, so the regulatory approval process is taking a bit longer," the spokesperson said.
Ascend — a leading maker of nylon 6/6 resins and compounds — made its first submission to the FDA in June for clearance to market Acteev technology in the U.S. in a surgical mask.
Acteev technology has been tested in multiple end forms, including knit and woven fabrics; engineered plastics; and nanofiber, meltblown and spunbond nonwoven materials. Shortly before the FDA submission, Asecend launched Acteev Protect, an antimicrobial line of protection formulated to guard against the growth of fungi, bacteria and other microbes on textiles and nonwoven fabrics.
Ascend employs 2,600 and operates nine global locations, including five fully integrated manufacturing facilities in the southeastern U.S. and a compounding plant in the Netherlands.