Steriwave now available through NHS Supply Chain

Ondine Biomedical Inc. (LON: OBI), the Canadian life sciences company pioneering light-activated antimicrobial treatments, is pleased to announce that its Steriwave® nasal photodisinfection is now available through the NHS Supply Chain, making it significantly easier for NHS hospitals in England and Wales to purchase. This marks the first time a light-activated antimicrobial has been available through the NHS Supply Chain, a national body which manages the sourcing, delivery and supply of healthcare products to the NHS and healthcare organizations in England and Wales.

Steriwave is a groundbreaking antimicrobial treatment that rapidly eliminates infection-causing pathogens without generating antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This innovative solution replaces the traditional antibiotic mupirocin, which is commonly used to decolonize the nose and help prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) but has high rates of AMR and low patient compliance.

In March 2024, Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust became the first in the UK to commercially adopt Steriwave as the standard of care for hip and knee surgery patients to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs). As previously announced, the commercial adoption of Steriwave at Pontefract and Pinderfields NHS Hospitals followed a successful initial deployment at Pontefract Hospital.

• Stuart Bond, Consultant Antimicrobial Pharmacist and Director of Innovation at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, commented:

"We are very pleased to be the first NHS Trust to give patients access to this important new technology. SSIs can have a devastating effect on patients and their families, and we are pleased that we have demonstrated the feasibility of using Steriwave in our Orthopaedic Centre of Excellence at Pontefract Hospital. It is a real step forward to making Steriwave more widely available across the Trust."

Ondine is also collaborating with Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust and Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber to sponsor a health economic analysis with the York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC). The findings of this study, expected later this year, will be used to support further adoption of Steriwave across the NHS and additional surgical applications.

SSIs, among the most common HAIs, affect one in 20 NHS surgical patients[1] and cost NHS England over £2 billion annually,[2] with costs expected to rise due to increasing AMR. WHO and NICE recommend eliminating harmful pathogens from the nasal cavities before surgery as a key approach to preventing SSIs. Steriwave uses a proprietary photosensitive microbial stain and activating red light to destroy nasal pathogens in a single, five-minute treatment without triggering AMR. As previously announced, Steriwave has been demonstrated in peer-reviewed studies and over 150,000 treatments to significantly reduce post-surgical infection rates with no serious adverse events reported, improving patient outcomes, reducing antibiotic use, and saving millions annually.

Ondine Biomedical Inc.

About Ondine Biomedical Inc.

Ondine's nasal photodisinfection system has a CE mark in Europe, the UK-CA mark, and is approved in Canada and several other countries under the name Steriwave®. In the US, it has been granted Qualified Infectious Disease Product designation and Fast Track status by the FDA and is currently undergoing clinical trials for regulatory approval. Products beyond nasal photodisinfection include therapies for a variety of medical indications such as chronic sinusitis, ventilator-associated pneumonia, burns and other indications.

About Steriwave®

[1] National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Surgical site infections: prevention and treatment NICE guideline [NG125], 2019. (link)

[2] Guest JF, Keating T, Gould D, et al Modelling the annual NHS costs and outcomes attributable to healthcare-associated infections in England BMJ Open 2020; 10:e033367. (link)