Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust Adopts Steriwave
Summary by AI BETAClose X
5 November 2026
ONDINE BIOMEDICAL INC.
(“Ondine Biomedical”, “Ondine”, or “the Company”)
Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust Adopts Steriwave® to Help Protect Orthopaedic Surgery Patients and Preserve Surgical Capacity
Ondine Biomedical Inc. (AIM: OBI), the leader in light-activated antimicrobial therapies to prevent and treat hospital infections, together with its UK distribution partner, Mölnlycke Health Care, is pleased to announce that Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust (“DGT”) is adopting Steriwave® nasal photodisinfection for elective orthopaedic surgery. The deployment brings Ondine’s rapid, non-antibiotic infection-prevention technology into another NHS surgical pathway, helping protect patients from surgical site infections (“SSIs”) while supporting efforts to preserve bed capacity and keep elective care moving.
DGT is one of the largest healthcare providers in North Kent, serving a rapidly expanding population of over 500,000 residents across Dartford, Gravesham, Swanley, and the London Borough of Bexley. Its main acute site, Darent Valley Hospital, provides a broad range of hospital services, including emergency, inpatient and elective surgical care.
This latest Steriwave deployment reflects continued commercial momentum for Ondine and Mölnlycke in the UK market, as NHS hospitals seek practical, non-antibiotic approaches to infection prevention that can support patient outcomes, antimicrobial stewardship and elective surgery capacity. It follows NHS Supply Chain’s classification of Steriwave as an Innovation Product, recognition reserved for novel technologies evaluated and considered by clinical specialists to offer distinct advantages over existing standard care.
SSIs can present a serious risk to patient health and place a substantial burden on healthcare resources. GIRFT data from elective hip and knee surgery show that affected patients require an additional two to four weeks of inpatient care, including bed days incurred through readmission and further treatment after the original procedure.[1] By adding Steriwave to the surgical infection-prevention pathway, NHS Trusts can strengthen efforts to reduce SSIs, helping avoid preventable readmissions, spare patients the disruption and risk of further hospital care, preserve critical bed capacity and keep elective surgery pathways moving for those waiting for treatment.
Steriwave is a five-minute, clinician-administered treatment designed to rapidly reduce harmful pathogens in the nose, a recognised reservoir for bacteria associated with SSIs. The treatment uses a light-activated antimicrobial agent and red light to reduce nasal microbial burden immediately before surgery. As a non-antibiotic, point-of-care approach, Steriwave reduces reliance on multi-day home-based nasal decolonisation regimens and supports antimicrobial stewardship.
Steriwave has been associated with reductions in SSIs in real-world NHS deployments across multiple surgical settings.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust recently reported a 78% reduction in SSIs in high-risk endoscopic anterior skull-based surgeries in its Steriwave study.[2] Earlier real-world data from Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust showed a 71% reduction in SSIs across elective hip and knee replacement surgeries, while health economic analysis by the York Health Economics Consortium ("YHEC") found Steriwave to be a cost-saving intervention.
Kris Khambhaita, Director of Infection Prevention and Control, DGT said:
"Preventing avoidable infections is a key priority for our Trust and the patients we care for. Introducing Steriwave into our elective orthopaedic pathway is an innovative addition to our wider infection prevention approach, providing a rapid, non-antibiotic intervention immediately before surgery. This work supports our commitment to reducing infection risks, promoting responsible antibiotic use and maintaining capacity for planned surgical care. I'd like to thank our clinical teams for embracing this initiative and everyone involved in helping us bring the pathway into practice."
Will Ferreira, Deputy Director of Operations, Surgical Critical & Planned Care Division, DGT, commented:
"Working in partnership with Mölnlycke to trial Steriwave in our Trust has helped us address a longstanding planning challenge around MRSA screening and decolonisation before elective surgery. This can create difficulties when emergency or complex patients need to be accommodated within our elective surgical sites at short notice. Through the Steriwave trial, we have so far been able to treat patients within this cohort at our QMH site, with treatment organised in less than 24 hours. This has helped us make better use of available theatre time, which might otherwise have gone unused, while providing patients with a more planned and relaxed experience."
Carolyn Cross, CEO of Ondine Biomedical, commented:
“We are delighted to partner with Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust to bring Steriwave to their orthopaedic surgical pathways. This deployment reflects the growing clinical demand we are seeing across the UK for non-antibiotic infection prevention solutions that can be delivered at the point of care. As the NHS works to reduce waiting lists and address antimicrobial resistance, Steriwave gives clinical teams greater control over a critical part of the infection-prevention pathway, helping protect patients and preserve surgical capacity.”
Lina Karlsson, EVP Antiseptics for Mölnlycke, added:
“At Mölnlycke, our vision is a world without healthcare-associated infections, and our partnership with Ondine and the Steriwave technology is an important step towards that goal. We are proud to collaborate with Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust and to support its efforts to prevent surgical site infections and improve patient outcomes. We believe the success of this initiative can help accelerate the adoption of effective patient decolonisation practices across the NHS and beyond.”
Steriwave is distributed in the UK via a strategic partnership with Mölnlycke Health Care and remains readily accessible to NHS healthcare providers through the NHS Supply Chain framework with its classification as an Innovation Product. For more information contact: Healthcare Professionals Contact or antiseptics.uk@molnlycke.com, or call +44 0800 917 4918.
Enquiries:
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Ondine Biomedical Inc. |
www.ondinebio.com |
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Carolyn Cross, CEO |
+1 604 669 0555 |
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Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated & Financial Adviser) |
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James Harris, Richard Johnson, Imogen Ellis |
+44 (0)20 7409 3494 |
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Peel Hunt LLP (Broker & Joint Financial Adviser) |
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James Steel, Dr. Chris Golden |
+44 (0)20 7418 8900 |
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5654 & Company (Financial PR and IR Adviser) |
ondinebiomedical@5654.co.uk |
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Matthew Neal, Chris Gardner, Melissa Gardiner, Lucy Featherstone
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+44 0791 7800 011 +44 0775 7697 357 +44 (0)7474 953 578
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About Ondine Biomedical Inc.
Ondine Biomedical Inc. is a Canadian life sciences company focused on the development of light-activated antimicrobial therapies (“photodisinfection”) for the prevention and treatment of infections, including those associated with multidrug-resistant organisms.
Ondine's lead product, Steriwave®, is authorized for nasal decolonisation in Canada and certain international markets. In the United States, the technology has been granted Qualified Infectious Disease Product designation and Fast Track status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and recently completed enrolment in its Phase 3 clinical trial.
The Company has a pipeline of additional photodisinfection products in various stages of development for application in areas including chronic sinusitis, ventilator-associated pneumonia, burns and other indications.
About Mölnlycke
Mölnlycke Health Care is a world-leading MedTech company that specialises in innovative solutions for wound care and surgical procedures. Mölnlycke products and solutions are used daily by hospitals, health care providers and patients in over 100 countries around the world. Founded in 1849, Mölnlycke is owned by Investor AB and headquartered in Sweden. www.molnlycke.com
U.S. Regulatory Status and Clinical Data Disclaimer
Ondine’s light-activated antimicrobial technology, commercially available as Steriwave® in certain jurisdictions, is not approved, cleared, or commercially available for sale or clinical use in the United States and is limited by U.S. law to investigational use only.
References to clinical outcomes in this release should be interpreted in the context of the specific studies or real-world evaluations described and do not imply regulatory approval for any particular indication.
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