LONDON: Ondine Biomedical Inc. (AIM: OBI), announced that the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for improvements to infection prevention and control (IPC) protocols in hospitals, to tackle the rapidly rising rates of hospital-acquired infections.
New technology, such as nasal photodisinfection, to prevent and treat these infections could be key to reducing overall infection rates, including infections that are resistant to antibiotics.
Figures released by the WHO suggest that seven out of every 100 patients in acute-care hospitals in high-income countries, and 15 of every 100 patients in low and middle-income countries, will acquire at least one health care-associated infection (HAI) during their hospital stay. On average, one in every ten affected patients will die from their HAI.
The WHO is “calling on all countries around the globe to increase their investment in IPC programmes to ensure quality of care and patient and health workers’ safety. This will not only protect their populations, but increased investment in IPC has also demonstrated to improve health outcomes and reduce health-care costs and out-of-pocket expenses.*”
A key aspect of improving IPC is new technology, especially technology that is not susceptible to antimicrobial resistance such as the innovation developed by Ondine. Ondine’s technology uses photodisinfection to target infection-causing pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Ondine’s nasal photodisinfection technology, Steriwave™, has been used in Canadian hospitals for ten years in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections, where it demonstrated an up to 84% reduction of postoperative infection rates, as well as significant cost savings.
The Steriwave photodisinfection process, known in the scientific community as antimicrobial photodynamic disinfection therapy (“aPDT”), works by using a specific wavelength of laser light to excite a photosensitizer that targets bacteria, viruses and fungi. This combination treatment rapidly destroys cell membranes and surface proteins of pathogens without producing resistance. Steriwave photodisinfection technology has been shown to be safe and effective against drug-resistant pathogens.
The nose and upper airway have been identified as the primary reservoir for many threatening pathogens including MRSA, Candida auris, and SARS-CoV-2. Ondine’s Steriwave nasal photodisinfection therapy can rapidly and painlessly eradicate pathogens in the nose, and is currently being clinically trialled for the suppression of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission.
Steriwave is CE marked and approved for use in Canada and a number of other countries. Additional clinical trials are currently underway to secure regulatory approval in the United States.
Ondine Biomedical Inc. (AIM: OBI) is a Canadian headquartered, medical device company led by founder and CEO, Carolyn Cross.
