RCS - Ondine Biomedical - ECDC report shows rising HAIs and antibiotic use

Ondine BiomedicalAnnouncement

10/05/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 8862N  Ondine Biomedical Inc.  10 May 2024

Non-regulatory announcement

ONDINE BIOMEDICAL INC.

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

ECDC report shows HAIs are increasing antibiotic use

A third of microorganisms causing HAIs (healthcare-associated infections) were
found to be resistant to antibiotics, leaving doctors with fewer effective
treatment options for patients

Ondine Biomedical (LON: OBI): A recent report from the European Centre for
Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) helps underscore the need for Ondine's
light-activated antimicrobial technology, a much-needed innovation in the face
of growing antibiotic resistance. The report reveals an alarming increase in
antibiotic use and rising resistance and finds that 4.3 million patients in
EU/EEA hospitals are affected by healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
Ondine's technology offers a promising solution, now used across Canada and in
the NHS. The technology kills all types of pathogens without causing
resistance, addressing a critical gap in the fight against antimicrobial
resistance (AMR).

The report, "Point prevalence survey of healthcare-associated infections and
anti-microbial use in European acute care hospitals - 2022-2023"
(https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/PPS-HAI-AMR-acute-care-europe-2022-2023)
, showed that antibiotic usage has increased since the last report in 2016-17.
In 2022-23, 35.5% of patients were found to have received at least one
antimicrobial agent, compared to 32.9% in 2016-17. This increase in antibiotic
use is particularly concerning because one in three microorganisms causing
HAIs were found to be resistant to antibiotics, leaving doctors with fewer
options to treat patients effectively.

ECDC Director Dr. Andrea Ammon said: "Healthcare-associated infections pose a
significant challenge to patient safety in hospitals throughout Europe. These
recent numbers highlight the urgent need for further actions to mitigate this
threat. By prioritising infection prevention and control policies and
practices, as well as antimicrobial stewardship and improving surveillance, we
can effectively combat the spread of these infections and protect the health
of patients across the EU/EEA."

With the threat of antibiotic-resistant HAIs increasing year-on-year, there is
a growing need for effective antimicrobials which do not generate resistance.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is responsible for 1.27 million deaths a year
and is one of humanity's most urgent global public health threats.( 1 
(#_edn1) ) Ondine's Steriwave light-activated antimicrobial technology is
highly effective against all types of pathogens-viruses, bacteria and
fungi-including those that cause HAIs, even those resistant to antibiotics.

Steriwave is a broad-spectrum light-activated antimicrobial that uses a
patented photosensitizer and associated red light to destroy pathogens in the
nose. The nose is a major reservoir of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, which can
spread from there to cause serious infections. Unlike traditional antibiotics,
Steriwave is immediately effective with a single five-minute treatment and
does not trigger AMR.

In 2023, Ondine presented research at the 2023 International Consortium on
Prevention & Infection Control (ICPIC) in Geneva, demonstrating that
Steriwave was highly effective (>99.99% kills in 20 seconds) against both
moderately drug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR)
bacteria.( 2  (#_edn2) )

Ondine's Steriwave technology is already used in the UK in the NHS and
extensively in hospitals across Canada to prevent HAIs. In 2024, hospitals in
Spain became the first in the EU to adopt this groundbreaking technology. The
prestigious Hospital Universitario La Paz (HULP), a large tertiary hospital in
Madrid with 1,308 beds, is one of three Spanish hospitals using Steriwave.

According to the latest ECDC HAI surveillance report, the prevalence rate of
HAIs in Spain is 8.2% compared to the median of 6.8%. Spain also had higher
rates of antibiotic usage, with over 45% of patients with an HAI receiving
antibiotics. More than 150,000 patients have been treated with Steriwave to
date, and no serious side effects have been reported.

 

**ENDS**

Enquiries:

 Ondine Biomedical Inc.
 Carolyn Cross, CEO                        +001 (604) 665 0555

 Singer Capital Markets

(Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)
 Aubrey Powell, Sam Butcher                +44 (0)20 7496 3000

 RBC Capital Markets (Joint Broker)
 Rupert Walford, Kathryn Deegan            +44 (0)20 7653 4000

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

 

About Ondine Biomedical Inc.

Ondine Biomedical Inc. is a Canadian life sciences company and leader
innovating light-activated antimicrobial therapies (also known as
'photodisinfection'). 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 the UK and
is approved in Canada 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 many other
indications.

About Steriwave®

Ondine's Steriwave® nasal photodisinfection system is a patented technology
using a proprietary light-activated antimicrobial (photosensitizer) to destroy
bacteria, viruses, and fungi colonizing the nose. The photodisinfection
treatment is carried out by a trained healthcare professional and is an easy
to use, painless, two-step process. The photosensitizer is applied to each
nostril using a nasal swab, followed by illumination of the area with a
specific wavelength of red laser light for less than five minutes. The light
activates the photosensitizer, causing an oxidative burst that is lethal to
all types of pathogens without causing long-term adverse effects on the nasal
microbiome. A key benefit of this approach-unlike with antibiotics, which have
resistance rates reported as high as 81%( 3  (#_edn3) )(-)is that pathogens do
not develop resistance to the therapy.

Nasal decolonization is recommended in the 2016 WHO Global guidelines for the
prevention of surgical site infections,( 4  (#_edn4) ) and the Society for
Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) guidelines, published in May 2023,
recommend nasal decolonization for major surgical procedures.( 5  (#_edn5) )

 

 1  Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators. (2022). Global burden of bacterial
antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. The Lancet;
399(10325): P629-655. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02724-0

 2  "Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy Against Extensively Drug-Resistant
(XDR) Gram-Negative Isolates With Novel Antibiotic Resistance Factors
(https://ondinebio.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ICPIC-2023-Photodisinfection-Against-XDR-Pathogens-poster.pdf)
"

 3  Poovelikunnel T, Gethin G, Humphreys H. Mupirocin resistance: clinical
implications and potential alternatives for the eradication of MRSA. J
Antimicrob Chemother. 2015;70(10):2681-2692. doi:10.1093/jac/dkv169

 4 
https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/integrated-health-services-(ihs)/ssi/fact-sheet-staphylococcus-web.pdf?sfvrsn=7e7266ed_2
(https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/integrated-health-services-(ihs)/ssi/fact-sheet-staphylococcus-web.pdf?sfvrsn=7e7266ed_2)

 5  Calderwood MS, Anderson DJ, Bratzler DW, et al. Strategies to prevent
surgical site infections in acute-care hospitals: 2022 Update. Infect Control
Hosp Epidemiol. 2023;44(5):695-720. doi:10.1017/ice.2023.67

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