As health-care systems around the world face the growing challenge of antibiotic resistance, a Kitchener-based medical device company is stepping up with a promising solution.
Founded in 2021, Biomiq specializes in biomimicry-based health-care solutions and is backed by over a decade of research and development. Its products include wound care, eye care and infection control solutions, notably PureCleanse™ STAT – a wound cleanser made for health-care workers to treat serious injuries or wounds that won’t easily heal.
In September, Biomiq collaborated with the Canada-Ukraine Foundation to donate over 4,400 bottles of the solution to hospitals in Ukraine, where it’s currently being used to treat wounded patients.
“The real need came from some of the challenges that have accelerated,” said Robert Fuller, co-founder and Managing Director of Biomiq. “We’ve been told by hospitals that they have a recurring problem with severe infections they can’t control. It’s become so serious that at some of the main hospitals with the worst cases, nurses are resigning with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because they’re losing healthy young men.”
PureCleanse™ STAT uses hypochlorous acid, a molecule that helps cleanse wounds quickly, safely and effectively. Unlike regular saline solution, hypochlorous acid is able to kill bacteria, viruses, fungi and more. It’s just as safe for healthy tissue as saline, but it also fights bacteria – even those resistant to antibiotics – making it more effective for healing wounds.
“Very quickly, we managed to get over one tonne of this life-saving solution into Ukraine, where it’s needed the most,” said Valeriy Kostyuk, Executive Director of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation.
“This is a collaboration that shows how responsible organizations can come together to make a meaningful impact,” said Marianna Kaminska, Programs Coordinator at Canada-Ukraine Foundation.
Health-care workers treating injured patients in Ukraine have described some of the severe blast wounds as resembling oatmeal, where flesh, nerves and bone are badly damaged.
“It’s obviously a very powerful environment for bacteria to grow in and it's very difficult for surgeons to deal with,” said Andrew Kuzich, a British-Ukrainian humanitarian partner based in Kyiv.
Fuller said Biomiq’s solution not only works well against bacteria and infections, it’s also safe to use.
“There are a lot of antiseptics out there that are very effective at killing bugs,” he said. “Unfortunately, they also damage a lot of the healthy tissue and so it’s similar to a ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ type of situation.”
What sets Biomiq’s solution apart is that it uses hypochlorous acid, a substance that our body’s white blood cells already produce on-demand in response to infection or tissue damage.
“It’s a natural process we’ve evolved with for over 50 million years,” said Fuller. “Every living being creates hypochlorous acid in response to foreign pathogens. What makes it so unique is that there’s been no demonstrated resistance to it.”
Fuller said Biomiq tested its solution against more than 50 pathogens, including many multi drug-resistant organisms that usually don’t respond to treatment.
“We understood the potential in what our product could do for patients,” said Ryan Hanes, Director of Product Marketing at Biomiq. “When we learned about the challenges faced by those wounded in Ukraine and their medical teams, we knew we had to act.”
Biomiq’s partnership with the Canada-Ukraine Foundation has been key to getting its solution to those in need. So far, feedback from Ukrainian health-care workers has been encouraging.
“It looks to be working on the spot,” said Kaminska, in response to a video of a health-care worker treating a patient’s knee wound in hospital with PureCleanse™ STAT. She translated the worker’s comments as he applied the solution.
“He mentioned they’ve used it before, and that this was the second or third time, and you can already see how the wound is healing and closing in, with the infection looking much better than they’ve previously seen,” said Kaminska.
“This is the perfect match for the strength of our product,” said David Whiteside, a former podiatrist and Business Development Consultant at Biomiq. “It’s being used in ways that we didn’t anticipate.”
Biomiq is looking forward to expanding its impact by including its solution in an upcoming surgical mission through the Canada-Ukraine Surgical Aid Program (CUSAP). This initiative, sponsored by the Canada-Ukraine Foundation and in partnership with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, will incorporate PureCleanse™ STAT during surgeries as well as post-operative treatment protocols.
“All we hope for is that we can help to manage some of these infections,” said Hanes. “The situation is desperate there, so this is uplifting for all of us to see that there’s some hope in some of these cases.”
