It is AMR (Anti Microbial Resistance) week next week. According to the O’Neill report AMR, will, by 2050, cause the death annually of 10 million people and a cumulative 100 trillion USD of economic output put at risk.
An Oxford paper estimates resistance caused 1.27 million deaths in 2019 – more deaths than HIV/AIDS or malaria – and that antimicrobial-resistant infections played a role in 4.95 million deaths. People could die from minor infections as more and more anti-biotics become resistant.
Ondine Biomedical, which is listed on the UK AIM Exchange, has developed a new technology, photodisinfection, which kills all types of pathogens – viruses, bacteria and fungi. This was initially developed at UCL in London.
Already proven to reduce surgical site infections (SSIs) by 70% through decolonisation of the nose before surgery, this technology could be developed and used much more widely to treat wounds, burns, ulcers, and bacterial or fungal infections in any orifice or on the skin. It has been proven in trials to help chronic sinusitis through a balloon application.
Ondine has approval in the EU, UK, and Canada, and is presently going through trials for FDA approval in the US.

How it works
A positively charged photosensitiser – methylene blue-based compound – is applied to the area to be treated. The photosensitiser binds to the negatively charged surface of the pathogens rather than the neutrally charged human cells. The treatment area is then illuminated at a specific wavelength for a few minutes, activating the photosensitiser and putting it in an excited state.
In this state, the photosensitiser engages in an electron transfer reaction that produces potent hydroxyl radicals and highly reactive singlet oxygen, which causes protein cross-linking and structural damage to the pathogens resulting in immediate microbial death.
These reactions are so rapid and the oxidative stress so overwhelming that the pathogens have been unable to resist or adapt. The host tissues experience minimal damage as they don’t take up the photosensitiser and the singlet oxygen and free radicals are very short-lived. This photosensitiser technology also modulates the hosts’ inflammation response.
When the light is turned off there is an immediate cessation of the anti-microbial activity. https://www.internationalphotodynamic.com/new-blog/2021/2/21/antimicrobial-photodynamic-therapy-aka-photodisinfection

Professors at universities worldwide, including Harvard, UCL and many more, are researching this new technology.
It has been used at Vancouver General Hospital for years in reducing SSIs.
We have many experts – scientists, doctors – who can speak to AMR and Ondine’s technology.
We can also provide a great deal of information on AMR and photodisinfection and demonstrate the Ondine technology.