Leading private healthcare provider, HCA Healthcare UK, has approved the Steriwave® light-activated antimicrobial developed by Ondine Biomedical Inc. (LON:OBI) for use in its healthcare facilities to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and reduce the use of antibiotics. HCA Healthcare is the largest private healthcare provider in the world, and one of the leading private healthcare providers in the UK, where it operates over 30 healthcare facilities.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing concern for healthcare providers around the world, particularly in the prevention and treatment of HAIs. Steriwave is a light-activated antimicrobial with a distinct mechanism of action from traditional antibiotics, allowing it to be used without fear of generating AMR. Its broad-spectrum efficacy destroys bacteria, viruses, and fungi in a single, 5-minute treatment.

Steriwave has already been successfully used in a small patient population in HCA Healthcare UK hospitals, but this approval will allow additional hospitals and healthcare facilities to adopt the technology more widely at the discretion of the clinician.

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

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, Ondine Biomedical CEO, commented: “We are delighted that Steriwave has now been authorized for use across HCA Healthcare UK’s healthcare facilities. We are already working closely with HCA Healthcare in the US on our US Phase 3 trial and the FDA regulatory submission for Steriwave, so it is fantastic to be getting such good support from them in the UK as well. The study undertaken at London Bridge Hospital has demonstrated Steriwave’s potential for addressing the threat of AMR by preventing infections and reducing antibiotic use.”

HCA Healthcare is partnering with Ondine in the United States to conduct a US Phase 3 clinical trial with the ultimate goal of obtaining FDA approval to bring Ondine’s nasal photodisinfection into the US market. HCA Healthcare operates 184 hospitals and over 2,000 sites of care across the United States, making it the largest healthcare system in the US.