Ondine Biomedical assessing Steriwave with Yorkshire partners

Ondine Biomedical announced on Tuesday that it is joining forces with the Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber, and the York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) to assess the potential cost savings associated with using its ‘Steriwave’ technology.

The AIM-traded firm said the focus of the evaluation was on reducing the incidence of surgical site infections (SSIs), a major healthcare challenge within the NHS.

SSIs represent a significant strain on the NHS, afflicting one in every 20 surgical patients.

The infections can cause individual costs of up to £0.1m per patient, with the overall economic burden on NHS England exceeding £2bn annually.

Rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was threatening to further escalate the costs as standard antibiotic treatments, like mupirocin, became less effective.

Ondine said Steriwave offered a promising alternative approach, using a photosensitizer that, when activated by a specific wavelength of red light, eliminates harmful pathogens within the nose - a known reservoir for infection-causing bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA.

The painless, five-minute treatment prevents the spread of the pathogens, including superbugs, without contributing to the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance.

Ondine said the YHEC, known for its expertise in health economics evaluations, would lead the economic analysis alongside an ongoing Steriwave pilot study at the Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust.

The pilot involved 500 patients undergoing elective hip and knee surgeries over a six-month period, with the analysis aiming to supplement the pilot's findings and further support the wider adoption of Steriwave across the NHS.

Ondine said Steriwave had already gained traction in major Canadian hospitals including the Vancouver General Hospital, the Ottawa Hospital, and the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute.

A recent study by VGH, published in the Canadian Journal of Surgery, demonstrated a 66.5% reduction in post-surgical infection rates following the use of Steriwave in spine surgery patients.

The study also highlighted significant cost savings of $2.5m annually.

Ondine said to date there had been no reports of serious adverse events associated with Steriwave treatment.

At 1154 GMT, shares in Ondine Biomedical were flat at 9.4p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.