RCS - Ondine Biomedical - Steriwave Standard of Care in 2nd Health Authority

Ondine BiomedicalAnnouncement

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RNS Number : 2564O  Ondine Biomedical Inc.  25 June 2025

25 June 2025

ONDINE BIOMEDICAL INC.

("Ondine Biomedical", "Ondine" or the "Company")

 

Steriwave Standard of Care in 2nd Health Authority

British Columbia's Interior Health is Second Provincial Health Authority in
Canada to Standardize Steriwave® for All Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty
Surgeries

Ondine Biomedical Inc. (AIM: OBI) announces that, with the implementation at
Vernon Jubilee Hospital, British Columbia's Interior Health Authority (IHA)
has completed the rollout of Steriwave(®) nasal decolonization therapy for
all total hip and knee replacement surgeries. With this implementation, IHA
becomes the second provincial health authority in Canada to adopt Steriwave as
standard of care for these procedures.

Steriwave is now in use at 17 hospitals across all five health authorities in
British Columbia (BC), which collectively serve most of the province's 5.7
million residents. Steriwave is also standard of care in six of Canada's top
ten largest hospitals and in several UK private sector and NHS trust
hospitals.

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) was the first Canadian Health Authority to
adopt Steriwave as standard of care for major surgeries. The movement toward
standardized use of Steriwave began at Vancouver Coastal Health Authority's
Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) and University of British Columbia (UBC)
Hospitals. Under the leadership of Drs. Elizabeth Bryce, Titus Wong, Diane
Roscoe, and Bas Masri, these institutions became the first in the world to
implement universal pre-surgical nasal photodisinfection for major surgeries.
Their work demonstrated sustained infection rate reductions exceeding 50% over
more than a decade without generating antimicrobial resistance. The VGH/UBC
team was recognized with several awards including the 2013 International
Consortium for Prevention and Infection Control Innovation Excellence Award in
Geneva, becoming the first Canadians to receive this global award.

Subsequent data from VGH's spine team, led by Dr. John Street, showed that the
use of Steriwave in spine surgery patients reduced post-surgical infection
rates by 66.5% and delivered nearly CA$2,600 in cost savings per patient
amounting to CA$2.5 million in annual savings for the hospital's spine
program.[ 1 ]

These VCH results laid the groundwork for broader adoption across BC and
abroad, including Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust in the UK, which reported a
71% surgical site infection (SSI) reduction for hips and knees and recently
won the President's Award at the 2025 IPA World Congress (Shanghai) and has
been shortlisted for the prestigious HSJ Patient Safety Awards for these
results.

Carolyn Cross, CEO of Ondine, said:

"We are proud to support Interior Health's commitment to patient safety as
antibiotic resistance continues to rise. Special thanks go to Nancy Thomas,
Clinical Lead for IH Surgical Services and Jennifer Wright as Project Lead,
for her leadership in making this region-wide implementation possible. We
would also like to thank the following: Dr. Andrian Kurz, Orthopedic Surgeon
and Dr. Amir Hadzic, Infection Prevention and Control Medical Lead both at
Kelowna General Hospital, Dr. Tim Bell Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at
Penticton Regional Hospital, Dr. Jon Bourget-Murray Orthopedic Surgeon and
Nicole Walby Clinical Operations Manager both at Royal Inland Hospital
Kamloops, and Hannah Rempel, Manager of Surgical Daycare at Vernon Jubilee
Hospital for their passionate leadership at local level. Particular
recognition and thanks go to Dr. Michel Hjelkrem, tenured orthopedic surgeon
and former head of the Orthopedic Department at Kootenay Boundary Regional
Hospital, for his personal efforts to secure the first Interior Health
deployment of Steriwave in 2019."

Steriwave is a five-minute, light-activated antimicrobial therapy that
destroys pathogens in the nasal cavity without fostering resistance or relying
on patient compliance. The treatment involves applying the proprietary
Steriwave photosensitive agent to each nostril followed by illumination with a
specific wavelength of red light. Unlike antibiotics, it is immediately
effective against bacteria, viruses, and fungi, making it a powerful tool in
the fight against healthcare-associated infections.

SSIs following major surgeries carry serious and often devastating
consequences for patients, with approximately 3% excess mortality [ 2 ],
extended hospital stays of nearly 10 days [ 3 ], and up to 63 hours of added
staff time per case, based on internal modelling estimates. A comprehensive
Alberta study published in 2018 found that complex SSIs following hip and knee
surgeries cost hospitals up to CA$95,000 per case and carry serious risks for
patients.[ 4 ] Interior Health's adoption of Steriwave strengthens its
infection prevention strategy and aligns with BC's 2025 healthcare goals for
safety, equity and sustainability.

 

Enquiries:

 Ondine Biomedical Inc.                                      www.ondinebio.com
 Carolyn Cross, CEO                                          +1 604 669 0555

or via Vane Percy & Roberts

 Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated & Financial Adviser)
 James Harris, Richard Johnson                               +44 (0)20 7409 3494

 RBC Capital Markets (Broker)
 Kathryn Deegan                                              +44 (0)20 7653 4000

 Vane Percy & Roberts (Media Contact)
 Simon Vane Percy                                            +44 (0)77 1000 5910

 

 

 

About Ondine Biomedical Inc.

Ondine Biomedical Inc. is a Canadian life sciences company and leader in
light-activated antimicrobial therapies ('photodisinfection') for the
prevention and treatment of infections, including those caused by
multidrug-resistant organisms. Ondine has a pipeline of investigational
products, based on its proprietary photodisinfection technology, in various
stages of development.

Ondine's nasal photodisinfection system has a CE mark in Europe and is
approved in Canada, Australia, Mexico 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.

 

 

(#_ednref1) [ 1 ] Moskven E, et al. Effectiveness of prophylactic intranasal
photodynamic disinfection therapy and chlorhexidine gluconate body wipes for
surgical site infection prophylaxis in adult spine surgery. Can J Surg,
2023;66(6): E550-E560. (link (https://doi.org/10.1503/cjs.016922) )

(#_ednref2) [ 2 ] Umscheid CA, et al. Estimating the proportion of
healthcare-associated infections that are reasonably preventable and the
related mortality and costs. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology,
2011;32(2):101-114. (link (https://doi.org/10.1086/657912) )

(#_ednref3) [ 3 ] Anderson DJ, et al. Strategies to Prevent Surgical Site
Infections in Acute Care Hospitals: 2014 Update. Infect. Control. Hosp.
Epidemiol. 2014;35:605-627. (link
(https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4267723/) )

(#_ednref4) [ 4 ] Rennert-May ED, Conly J, Smith S, et al. The cost of
managing complex surgical site infections following primary hip and knee
arthroplasty: A population-based cohort study in Alberta, Canada. Infect
Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2018;39(10):1183-1188. (link
(https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/abs/cost-of-managing-complex-surgical-site-infections-following-primary-hip-and-knee-arthroplasty-a-populationbased-cohort-study-in-alberta-canada/D1039C9F16AC6FE965C960D6C2494201)
)

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