Ondine Biomedical Inc. (LON:OBI), the Canadian life sciences company pioneering light-activated antimicrobial treatments to prevent and treat healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), announces that a UK-based study demonstrated a significant reduction in antibiotic use following sinus surgeries where Steriwave^® was used for pre-surgical nasal decolonization.

Professor Claire Hopkins, Professor of Rhinology at King’s College London and Consultant ENT Surgeon at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, has reported a retrospective study showing that using Steriwave in her endoscopic sinus surgery patients led to antibiotic use across all her patients dropping from 22% to less than 5% – a 77% reduction. Professor Hopkins has been using Steriwave routinely to nasally decolonise her endoscopic sinus surgery patients at London Bridge Hospital since 2021.

Professor Hopkins commented, “I was amazed that studies show that by treating the nose you can reduce spinal surgical site infections – so it seemed an ideal way to reduce the risk of post-operative infection after nasal surgery. I have seen a significant reduction in post-operative infections requiring antibiotics, which is good for the patients, reducing the risk of antibiotic-related side effects, and important to help prevent ever-increasing antibiotic resistance. It needs formal controlled studies to further evaluate the effectiveness but I am impressed with the difference that I have seen in my practice.”

Interview with Professor Hopkins: Steriwave prevents sinonasal SSIs

Carolyn Cross CEO of Ondine commented, “In an era of rising drug resistance, antibiotic stewardship is of great importance.  Sinus surgery is typically associated with high rates of routine post-operative antibiotic prescribing in order to reduce the risk of post-operative infection. Reducing antibiotic usage is important to curb rising antimicrobial resistance and preserve antibiotics’ effectiveness when there is no other solution. We are pleased to be supporting Professor Hopkins’ development and adoption of important new infection control procedures that enable a marked reduction in antibiotic use in sinus surgery patients.”

Canadian hospitals have been using Ondine’s light-activated antimicrobial to reduce post-surgical infections for over 10 years without evidence of resistance generation or patient safety issues.  Results presented at the the prestigious SPIE Photonics West conference in San Francisco, California showed that treatment with Ondine’s Steriwave® Nasal Photodisinfection System significantly reduces pathogens – viruses, bacteria and fungi – in the nose without producing long-term adverse effects on the nasal microbiome. This is an important finding to allay potential concerns as to a possible side-effect of Steriwave treatment, which has been used in over 150,000 patients with no serious adverse events reported. Steriwave was selected as a 2024 SPIE Prism Awards finalist in the ‘Biomedical’ category.