Ondine Biomedical (AIM:OBI) has struck a data collaboration with Mela Solutions to accelerate NHS hospitals' evaluation of Steriwave nasal photodisinfection, its light-activated therapy for preventing hospital-acquired infections.
Mela's Medicus platform sits inside 90% of NHS intensive care units, covering roughly 4,500 critical care beds, giving participating Trusts a shortcut past the data-collection delays that typically slow adoption decisions.
The first-year target is 6 to 10 hospitals with larger intensive care units of 30 beds or more, collectively admitting up to 20,000 critical care patients annually.
Ondine's Steriwave has already shown clinical results in the ICU setting: a 227-patient feasibility study at Royal Columbian Hospital, published in Critical Care, found a 39.5% reduction in ICU pneumonia rates and a statistically significant cut in early nasal pathogen burden, with no intervention-related adverse events.
That builds on topline results from Ondine's Phase 3 LANTERN trial, which found a 40.5% reduction in surgical site infections across 18 Canadian and US hospitals.
"With recent data showing nearly 16% of ICU patients acquiring a hospital infection... effective nasal decolonisation holds the potential for a strong ROI," said Carolyn Cross, chief executive of Ondine Biomedical.
Cross said the collaboration could let NHS decision-makers verify Steriwave's cost-benefit case "in weeks rather than years."
The UK Health Security Agency estimates infectious diseases cost NHS secondary care nearly £6 billion annually and consume over 20% of bed days.
Steriwave is distributed in the UK through Mölnlycke Health Care, following its adoption in July by NHS Golden Jubilee, Scotland's first hospital to deploy the treatment.