Ondine Biomedical (AIM:OBI) said a health economic analysis presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress estimates that surgical site infections add an average C$2,056 (£1,090) to the cost of every cardiac surgery performed.
The AIM-listed medical device company develops light-activated antimicrobial therapies to prevent hospital-acquired infections, with its Steriwave nasal photodisinfection device as its commercial focus.
The analysis, published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, models a baseline cardiac surgery infection rate of 6.7% and an assumed incremental hospital cost of C$30,689 per infected patient, a figure adapted from a separate 2025 US cost study for the Canadian modelling.
In a modelled cohort of 1,000 cardiac surgery patients, the resulting 67 surgical site infections would generate more than C$2.05 million in incremental costs and consume 650 additional bed-days, based on an average infection-related length-of-stay extension of 9.7 days.
Those 650 bed-days could otherwise support an estimated 100 elective cardiac procedures, representing what the analysis calls an avoidable 10% loss of total surgical capacity, which it says can also lengthen surgical waiting lists.
"The 'Infection Tax' approach demonstrates that every cardiac procedure carries an unbudgeted C$2,056 burden due to SSI prevention failure," said Carolyn Cross, founder and chief executive of Ondine Biomedical.
Read more about Ondine Biomedical
- 28/10/26Ondine says LANTERN treatment was well tolerated by patients
- 23/10/26Ondine Biomedical reports 51.5% drop in CABG infections at Ottawa hospital
- 18/06/26Ondine Biomedical nasal photodisinfection cuts brain surgery infections by 78.5%
The company's analysis was presented alongside two related posters from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, which reported in October a 51.5% reduction in conduit harvest-site infections in coronary artery bypass grafting after switching from mupirocin to Steriwave, drawn from a real-world evaluation of 2,172 procedures.
That Ottawa data followed Ondine's completion in October of a £10 million gross placing and subscription, with proceeds earmarked for commercial expansion and US regulatory activity ahead of a planned mid-2027 New Drug Application filing.