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The second and third waves of COVID-19 pandemic have largely been driven by the surge of successive SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC). These VOC have rapidly spread through multiple geographies being enabled by high transmission rates and/or high viral load compared to the original parent strain. Consequently, the altered phenotypes of these VOC have posed greater challenges to diagnostic and clinical management of COVID-19. Despite considerable progress being made on vaccine roll out, practicing proper hand hygiene has been advocated as a consistent precautionary intervention as more virulent VOC continue to emerge and spread across geographies.Two variants of concern, namely beta and delta, have recently been shown to escape antibody-mediated neutralization by virtue of acquired mutations in the receptor-binding domain of the viral spike protein which binds to the human ACE2 receptor for cellular entry. In this report we have empirically determined the efficacy of a range of personal care formulations in inactivating the beta and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2. High titres of these variants were exposed to marketed personal care formulations from Unilever under standard in-vitro suspension test-based conditions relevant to end-user habits. All the formulations demonstrated greater than 99.9% reduction in viral infective titres. The rate of inactivation by these products were comparable to that of the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus tested under the same conditions. Therefore, it can be concluded that well-designed personal care formulations when tested under consumer-centric conditions, and with proven efficacy against the parent strain of SARS-CoV-2 will continue to be effective against extant and emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2. This is through their broad-spectrum mode of action (disruption of lipid bilayer of the host-derived viral envelope, denaturation of envelop and nucleocapsid proteins, and disruption of genome) which is independent of the escape mutations that facilitate immune evasion or enhanced transmissibility.

The role of human saliva in aerosol-based transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has highlighted the need to understand the potential of oral hygiene products to inactivate the virus. Here we examined the efficacy of mouthwashes containing cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) or chlorhexidine (CHX) in inactivating SARS-CoV-2. After 30 seconds contact under standard aqueous conditions CPC mouthwashes achieved a ≥4.0log10PFU/mL reduction in SARS-CoV-2 (USA-WA1/2020) titres whereas comparable products containing CHX achieved 10PFU/mL reduction. Further testing with CPC mouthwashes demonstrated efficacy against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants, with inactivation below the limit of detection observed against the Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351) and Gamma (P.1) variants. Virucidal efficacy of CPC mouthwash was also observed in the presence of human saliva with the product delivering ≥4.0log10PFU/mL reduction in SARS-CoV-2 titres after 30 seconds providing additional evidence for the virucidal efficacy of CPC mouthwashes under simulated physiological conditions. Together these data suggest CPC-based mouthwashes are effective at inactivating SARS-CoV-2 and further supports the use of mouthwash to mitigate the risk of transmission during dentistry procedures.