Japan's Daikin Industries, the world's No. 2 air conditioner maker, said on Tuesday its air purifier can stop the H1N1 flu virus from spreading, sending the firm's shares up 5 percent.

A joint study with Vietnam's National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology had shown that the virus, spreading around the world in a flu pandemic, was no longer contagious after being exposed to its air purifier for four hours.

Shares in Daikin jumped 5 percent on news of the flu-fighting technology, in a flat Tokyo market.

High-speed plasma electrons generated in its air purifiers break down H1N1, other viruses and bacteria to nitrogen, oxygen and water, said Daikin, which developed the technology in 2004.

Daikin this month launched its latest air purifier using the technology, a model which it said is 1.5 times more powerful than its previous versions.

The new H1N1 strain of flu, declared a pandemic in June, could eventually infect one third of the world's population, or 2 billion people, according to the World Health Organization.

Rival Sharp Corp uses similar technology for its air purifiers but has yet to verify its effectiveness on the virus, a Sharp spokesman said. - Reuters