VANCOUVER, British Columbia, November 13, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ondine Biomedical’s Steriwave nasal photodisinfection technology has been shortlisted in the biomedical category of the 2024 international society for optics and photonics SPIE Prism Awards. Ondine’s nasal photodisinfection technology, which has been significantly reducing hospital acquired infections, uses a combination of a photosensitive agent and red laser light to eliminate bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the nose in minutes without generating resistance.

Nasal photodisinfection is a painless, five-minute treatment that uses a patented photosensitive agent and specific, non-UV light to trigger photochemical reactions that produce reactive oxygen species. These reactive oxygen species are lethal to a broad spectrum of microbes, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses.

Ondine CEO, Carolyn Cross, comments, "It is fantastic to see photodisinfection receiving wider recognition as a technology that will be transformative for the future of healthcare. As the tide of antimicrobial resistance continues to rise, we are fast approaching a reality where a simple infection could be deadly. Our nasal photodisinfection technology represents a new way of combatting infections and, crucially, unlike antibiotics, it does not develop resistance."

Photodisinfection has been shown to be highly effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including extensively drug-resistant strains, without showing any resistance formation. This makes photodisinfection an exciting prospect for combatting rising rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains a major public health concern, causing 1.27 million deaths in 2019.ⁱ The AMR death rate is projected to rise to 10 million globally by 2050.ⁱⁱ

Nasal photodisinfection is also widely used in hospitals across Canada, as well as in Europe and Mexico, to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) following surgery. Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the most common of HAIs, and are a huge burden on both healthcare systems and patients, with the estimated cost of a prosthetic hip or knee infection costing up to $100,000.ⁱⁱⁱ

In hospital settings, pre-surgical use of Steriwave has resulted in significant improvement in post-surgical outcomes including lower rates of infection, reduced patient length of stay, fewer readmissions, lower rates of antibiotic prescribing and significant cost savings.^iv,v,vi

Other applications for Ondine’s photodisinfection technology include the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis, decolonization of burns and wounds, and disinfection of endotracheal tubes to reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Ondine has also completed a proof-of-concept study which showed that photodisinfection effectively eliminated pathogens commonly found on hard surfaces in meat processing facilities, as well as those directly located on fresh-cut chicken, beef, and pork meat.^vii