Ondine Biomedical Inc. (LON: OBI), the Canadian life sciences company pioneering light-activated antimicrobial treatments, and Iskus Health announce that Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will begin using its Steriwave^® nasal decolonization technology later this month. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest and busiest acute hospital trusts in the country, treating 1.5 million patients every year.

Steriwave will be used as part of a quality improvement (QI) initiative to prevent infections in patients undergoing surgery to remove tumours from the base of the brain or top of the spine via the nose (endonasal endoscopic anterior skull base surgery). The key endpoints for the QI initiative will be reducing post-operative antibiotic use 30 days after surgery, and reducing the need for outpatient follow-up appointments to treat infections.

Post-surgical infections prolong recovery times, with even minor infections requiring more follow-up appointments, and treatment often requires prolonged use of antibiotics. Reducing antibiotic use is also a key aspect of the UK’s 5-year action plan for antimicrobial resistance, which was published in May 2024.

Paul Nix, Rhinology and Anterior Skull Base Surgeon at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, will lead the Steriwave QI initiative. He says: “There are great advantages to going through the nose to operate on skull base tumours because of the minimally invasive access and the fact that patients have a better quality of life after surgery. However, there is a risk of infection because we access the surgical site through the nose – a well-known reservoir for pathogens – and we risk introducing those pathogens into the brain. Luckily, we have a very low rate of infections, but if a patient gets an infection like meningitis it can be life-threatening.

“Decolonizing the nose is particularly important for us as, unlike with more conventional surgeries, we are not able to clean the skin around the incision. Antibiotics can be used to decolonize the nose but need to be applied by patients at home for five days before surgery, and patients may not be able to do this, not to mention the concerns around rising levels of antimicrobial resistance. The great advantage of Steriwave is that it can be administered once a patient has been admitted or at short notice for an emergency surgery and works instantly.”

Steriwave is a groundbreaking antimicrobial treatment that uses a light-activated agent to rapidly eliminate infection-causing pathogens. First, the agent is applied to each nostril using a nasal swab, then the area is illuminated with a red light laser. The light activates the photodynamic agent, causing an oxidative burst that destroys pathogens. This eliminates infection-causing bacteria, viruses and fungi in a single, 5-minute treatment. The process works so rapidly that pathogens do not have the opportunity to develop resistance, making it an effective alternative to antibiotics.

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). In June 2024, was added to the NHS Supply Chain, making it significantly easier for NHS hospitals in England and Wales to purchase. The NHS Supply Chain is a national body which manages the sourcing, delivery and supply of healthcare products to the NHS and healthcare organizations in England and Wales.