Vancouver, BC, Canada, May 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ondine Biomedical Inc., the global leader in Photodisinfection based therapies for multidrug resistant infection treatment and prevention, announces successful eradication of Streptococcus pyogenes, or Group A streptococcus, the Gram-positive bacterium associated with necrotising fasciitis (“flesh-eating disease”). Successful outcomes from an in vitro series of studies were accepted for publication after peer review, in the open-access Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (ANTIMICROBIAL PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY FOR RAPID ERADICATION OF S. PYOGENES).
“Necrotising fasciitis kills 1 in 3 people who suffer from this infection,” stated Carolyn Cross, CEO and Founder of Ondine Biomedical Inc. “Untreated necrotising fasciitis often results in generalized Toxic Shock Syndrome, a condition which rapidly overwhelms the immune system. Ondine is developing a rapid, easy-to-use Photodisinfection approach to topical decolonization of S. pyogenes in order to reduce amputations, morbidity and mortality rates in these seriously ill patients.”
According to the CDC, Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus) is a beta-hemolytic bacterium that can cause many different infections ranging from minor illnesses to deadly diseases. Diseases caused by Streptococcus pyogenes include Tonsillitis, Pharyngitis, Cellulitis, Strep Throat, Scarlet Fever, Necrotising Fasciitis, Rheumatic Fever, and Post Streptococcal Glomerulonephritis. Streptococcus pyogenes is found in the throat and on skin.
About Photodisinfection
Ondine’s Photodisinfection technology provides a powerful new alternative in the fight against drug-resistant infections. This patented, light-activated antimicrobial kills drug-resistant bacteria, viruses, and fungi, including those in biofilms, in minutes. Because Photodisinfection is effective against such a broad spectrum of pathogens, expensive and time-consuming pathogen identification is not required. Photodisinfection kills microbes through oxidative disruption with no known adverse effects to human epithelial tissue or mucosa. Microbes are unable to resist or adapt to this treatment.
About Ondine Biomedical Inc.
Ondine Biomedical Inc. is certified woman-owned business dedicated to the development of treatment and prevention therapies for a broad-spectrum of multidrug-resistant bacterial, viral and fungal infections. Ondine's antimicrobial program utilizes photodisinfection (also known as antimicrobial photodynamic therapy, or aPDT) to provide rapid antimicrobial efficacy without elevating risk of resistance. Ondine’s lead product is Steriwave™ ND, a photodisinfection-based treatment that can rapidly eliminate nasal bacteria, viruses, and fungi in symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers to reduce post-surgical infection rates. Applications of the photodisinfection platform under development include treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis, treatment of burns and wounds, disinfection of endotracheal tubes to reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia and most recently, the development of topical antiviral therapy for the upper respiratory tract to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2.