Steriwave Now Protecting Patients with Cancer

The Mater Hospital, North Sydney, Adopts Steriwave to Combat AMR in Cancer Care

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is driving higher mortality, morbidity, and healthcare costs for patients with cancer.
• Hospitalized patients with cancer face up to twice the risk of antibiotic-resistant infections.
• AMR pathogens are up to three times as prevalent in outpatients with cancer compared with patients without cancer.

Ondine Biomedical Inc. announces that The Mater Hospital, North Sydney, has introduced Steriwave^® nasal photodisinfection into its oncology program to help combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in cancer care. Mounting evidence shows people with cancer face significantly higher risks from drug-resistant infections—a challenge the hospital is determined to address head-on.

Patients with cancer, particularly those undergoing chemotherapy, radiation, stem cell transplants or surgery, are highly vulnerable to infection due to weakened immune systems and frequent healthcare exposure. These risks are magnified by the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Recent studies underscore these risks:

• Hospitalized patients with cancer face 1.5 to 2 times higher rates of AMR infections than other inpatients (Gupta et al., Cancer Medicine, 2024).
• Outpatients with cancer experience up to 3 times higher rates of AMR pathogens, such as VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci), ESBL-producing Enterobacterales, and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas (Gupta et al., Lancet Oncology, 2025).
• In patients with hematologic malignancies, AMR infections occur in up to 35% of cases and are closely linked with increased mortality (Sallah et al., Lancet Oncology, 2025).

Steriwave is a non-invasive and painless treatment that uses a proprietary light-activated photosensitive agent to destroy harmful bacteria, viruses, and fungi—including antibiotic-resistant strains—in the nasal passages. The procedure takes five minutes and, unlike antibiotics, is effective immediately and allows the normal nasal microbiome to recover quickly, without fostering antimicrobial resistance.

Carolyn Cross, CEO of Ondine Biomedical:

“We are pleased to collaborate with Professor Boyle and the Mater team to bring Steriwave to people battling cancer. This marks an important step in expanding Steriwave’s role beyond surgical and ICU settings into broader cancer care, where the need is increasingly urgent.”

A Cost-Effective and Life-Saving Strategy

The challenge:

• Resistant infections drive up costs through prolonged hospital stays, expensive last-line antibiotics, and added staffing requirements.
• AMR increases morbidity and mortality by delaying or disrupting life-saving treatments like chemotherapy or transplants.
• Health equity gaps widen in settings with limited access to advanced antibiotics and diagnostics (Shropshire & Shelburne, Lancet Oncology, 2025).

How Steriwave helps:

• Steriwave reduces infection rates, shortening hospital stays and lowering reliance on costly drugs.
• Preventing resistant infections allows patients to stay on schedule with critical cancer therapies.
• As a non-antibiotic, low-cost intervention, Steriwave supports more equitable access to infection prevention worldwide.

As AMR continues to rise globally, incorporating preventive innovations like Steriwave into oncology care can help protect people with cancer, sustain life-saving treatments, and ease growing pressures on healthcare systems.