VOL 09| ISSUE 03 | 2021
E
TH
Most Innovative
INFECTION
PREVENTION Solution Providers, 2021
Caitlin Cameron, CEO
BRINGING A NOVEL APPROACH IN ASSESSING MIDDLE EAR INFECTIONS
Healthy Living No more Fear of the Infections
Infectious-Free Preventing Infections and their Spread by Using Variety of Tools and Technologies
Editor’s Desk Creating a Full-Fledged Infection Controlled World
I
t makes us feel excited and terrible at the same time, excited – when thinking about how we as humans have developed and terrible knowing about the lifethreatening diseases around us. Finding the right tool to get rid of the disinfection is the best way to keep the infections away. Well, technology has progressed rapidly to offer the solutions that can rectify the infections and prevent us from all the harmful diseases, improving the quality of life. This is where infection solutions providers come into the picture. They understand the importance of human life by creating the safest solution that overcomes the infections in our home, work, or any other place with the help of technology. These infection solution providers have become a necessity in today’s modern ‘variant’ world. Looking at the current situation, there’s no place which we can say is infectionfree; it is everywhere – in the form of viruses, bacterial or fungal which can cause a long-term health risk. To stop such deadly infections, infection prevention solution companies take up this challenge with technological tools, like providing devices, services and creating a healthy and hygienic environment all around. Although solutions these companies offer are not fully 100% infectious-free, they investigate the infections or clusters, prevent infections like pathogens from passing from one person to another, and keep the surroundings clean. They are also involved in the invention of new technologies and are aimed at creating a highly desirable tool to combat any type of infection. The pandemic has taught us a great lesson. We understood the importance of these infection solution providers and
why keeping a sanitized and infectious-free workplace is crucial. These companies, in a way, made a huge difference in the lives of the people. Today, these companies provide a novel approach with new innovative devices reducing infections and improving lives. Building a system that enables infections to stay away from is not a simple feat; the backstage process involves consistently testing the solutions and working in a pressurized situation where human lives are at stake. The day doesn’t seem far when we will get to see platforms that will set new standards in the infection control industry and prevent all the viruses and infections, saving resources, time, and valuable human lives. Dealing with such challenges and creating opportunities, it’s about time that someone appreciates their efforts. With an intent to admire and acknowledge the contribution of such companies, we have come up with the edition, The 10 Most Innovative Infection Prevention Solution Providers, 2021, that features innovative companies who have established their mark on the world with their ground-breaking infection prevention solutions. Delve in!
Sourabh More
sourabh@insightssuccess.com
Contents Cover Story
08
OtoNexus Medical Technologies
Bringing a Novel Approach in Assessing Middle Ear Infections
32
CxO Expert’s Insights Technologies Disrupting the Future of the Pharmaceutical Industry
Articles
18 26
Healthy Living No more Fear of the Infections
Infectious-Free
Preventing Infections and their Spread by Using Variety of Tools and Technologies
22
28
36
AseptiScope Inc.
Blue Ocean Robotics
Khairnar Cleaning Services
Bringing Novel Solutions to Reduce the Risk of Healthcare Associated Infections
Developing Effective Robotics Technology for Healthcare Industry
Delivering Highest Quality Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting Services
Editor-in-Chief Hitesh Dhamani Managing Editor Anish Miller
Executive Editor Sourabh More
Assistant Editors Jenny Fernandes
Visualizer
Art & Design Director
Associate Designer
Co-designer
David King
Priyanka Rajage
Shubham Dali
Kartik Balapurkar
Senior Sales Manager
Business Development Manager
Kshitij S
Peter Collins
Marketing Manager
Sales Executives
John Matthew
David, Martin, Irfan
Technical Head
Business Development Executives
Jacob Smile
Steve, Joe, Saurabh
Technical Specialist Aditya
Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza
SME-SMO Executive Amol Wadekar
Research Analyst Frank Adams
Database Management Stella Andrew
Circulation Manager Robert Brown
Technology Consultant David Stokes
sales@insightssuccess.com September, 2021
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1 The
Most Innovative
INFECTION PREVENTION
Solution Providers, 2021
Company Name
Featured Person
Scott Mader / Kelly Powers / Steve Daly Chief Executive AseptiScope Inc Officer and Co-founder aseptiscope.com / Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder / Chief Commercial Officer
Brief
AseptiScope provides Infection Protection for Clinician & Patient with novel aseptic solutions.
Apreco apreco.com
Mike Hodges Owner & Managing Director
Apreco is the market leader in the design, manufacture, and worldwide distribution of Pressure Relief Vents and Air Pressure Stabilisers.
Blue Ocean Robotics blue-oceanrobotics.com
Per Juul Nielsen CEO (UVD Robots)
Blue Ocean Robotics develops, produces and sells professional service robots primarily in healthcare, hospitality, construction and agriculture.
Cantel Medical Corp cantelmedical.com
George Fotiades Chief Executive Officer
Cantel is a global company dedicated to deliver innovative infection prevention products and services for patients, caregivers, and other healthcare providers.
Ecolab ecolab.com
Christophe Beck President and Chief Executive Officer
Ecolab is a global leader in water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services that protect people and vital resources.
Getinge AB getinge.com
Mattias Perjos President & CEO
Getinge is a leading global provider of products and systems that contribute to quality enhancement and cost efficiency within healthcare and life sciences.
Genano genano.com
Niklas Skogster CEO
Genano Ltd is a health technology company, its air purifiers are an efficient way to reduce the health risks of airborne impurities such as microbes, ultrafine particles and volatile organic compounds.
Khairnar Cleaning Services khairnarcleaning services.com
Mr. Vijay Khairnar Owner
Khairnar Cleaning Services, Pune is a fully organized janitorial cleaning services company that provides comprehensive, high quality, reliable cleaning solutions to commercial, corporate, industrial and residential clients.
OtoNexus Medical Technologies otonexus.com
Caitlin Cameron CEO
OtoNexus is developing the world’s first medical device to provide objective diagnostic data to instantly and accurately diagnose middle ear infections in children and adults.
Walt Rosebrough President, CEO
STERIS plc steris.com
Steris is a leading provider of infection prevention and other procedural products and services, focused primarily on healthcare, pharmaceutical and medical device Customers.
Bringing a Novel Approach in Assessing Middle Ear Infections
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We are solving the problem of unnecessary antibacterial therapy in the treatment of middle ear infections.
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COVER STORY
Caitlin Cameron CEO OtoNexus Medical Technologies
COVER STORY
M
edical research indicates that nearly 93% of children in America suffer at least one middle ear infection, which is severe enough to see a doctor. Most will suffer repeat occurrences, up to a dozen or more in childhood. These painful episodes are difficult for children, parents, and caregivers. Accurate diagnosis of middle ear infections (Otitis Media) in infants and young children may be difficult. Besides, a middle ear infection is the main reason behind surgery in children and for which antibiotics are prescribed to children. Clinical studies show diagnostic error rates averaging 50 percent, particularly in the key differentiation of whether or not to prescribe an antibiotic.
Taking this dilemma into consideration, a medical device company, OtoNexus Medical Technologies came into existence to improve the diagnosis and treatment of infections of the middle ear (Otitis Media), by developing the world’s first medical device to provide objective diagnostic data for children and adults. Headquartered in Seattle, WA, OtoNexus is a technology innovator developing the first ultrasound-based medical device to allow clinicians to instantly assess middle ear infections and determine when and when not to prescribe antibiotics. It was started with a goal to decrease the unnecessary prescription of antibiotics for middle ear infections by 50%. With its simple and elegant device, the medical technology leads to better outcomes in differentiating when and when not to prescribe antibiotics and significantly reduced healthcare costs.
A Complete Novel Idea behind Inception The ingenious minds behind OtoNexus are Dr. George Gates, Chief Medical Officer, and Dr. Mark Moehring, Chief Science Officer. After caring for children for over 40 years, Dr. George Gates was determined to find a better way to diagnose the problem of middle ear infection and treat these children. He was frustrated with the lack of accurate tools for the diagnoses and the resulting over-prescription of antibiotics. He met Dr. Mark Moehring, the inventor of transcranial Doppler ultrasound. They thought ultrasound technology was a potential solution, given it is a highly accurate, well-known, and safe technology. To make this a reality, they had to overcome a significant technical challenge: using ultrasound technology without gel coupling. This had never been achieved before, but in the case of middle ear assessment, it was critical to success. You can imagine, it is entirely impractical to put ultrasound gel into a child's ear and then remove it when the examination is complete. It took several years of research to achieve this breakthrough. This success is significant because it creates a technology platform for other applications in medicine and industrial applications. As a result of the vision of Dr. George Gates and Dr. Mark Moehring, OtoNexus has created the first and only device to identify both the presence and type of effusion behind the eardrum. This gives physicians the data they need to determine when antibiotic therapy is appropriate.
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We are building a revolutionary advanced ultrasound otoscope that provides the data primary care pediatricians need to instantly and accurately assess middle ear infections.
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COVER STORY Solving the Problem of Unnecessary Antibacterial Therapy Current tools for assessing acute otitis media are decades old and only provide an accuracy of 50%. As a result, patients are often given ineffective treatment and are referred to specialists more often than necessary. Another concern is that unnecessary antibiotic use can cause side effects and drive the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. The inexpensive, handheld OtoNexus device is designed for primary care and looks like an otoscope. But that is where the similarities end. The OtoNexus device analyzes the presence and type of fluid behind the eardrum within 2 seconds. It provides data that can be shared with patients and parents to communicate appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Moreover, the OtoNexus device will provide clinicians around the globe with the information they need to accurately identify when antibacterial therapy is appropriate and when it is not. Its goal is to reduce the prescription rate of antibiotics for middle ear infections by 50%. It has a shared purpose with the stakeholders to improve clinical outcomes, decrease healthcare costs, and advance antimicrobial stewardship through the appropriate use of antibiotics to combat the development of drug-resistant bacteria or super-bugs, which benefits humanity. A Customer-Oriented Approach OtoNexus’ novel technology is heavily patented and protected. It provides critical data for the customers that is unobtainable by other technologies or tools. The organization developed this device after listening to its customers' needs and designing it to fit perfectly into their workflow, creating a highly desirable and easy-to-use tool. The company will continue to develop products that leverage this unique technology for other medical applications to expand its product and patent portfolio. In addition, it also believes that providing the best customer experience possible is the key for any company to strive and thrive in the world of business. It succeeds when its customers succeed. The organization will continue to seek customer feedback to expand its products and provide excellent customer satisfaction. Driven By Values The OtoNexus leadership team has created strong company values that inform and direct everything it does. The company values responsibility to doctors, patients, and parents to develop innovative products that make a
difference in care for humankind; a commitment to solving complex problems to find the best solution. Its goal is to create a simple, affordable, portable, lightweight, non-invasive tool that provides data in 1-2 seconds so clinicians may accurately assess and responsibly treat middle ear infections. By doing so, it can improve patient outcomes, reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions and surgeries, and reduce healthcare costs. Following that, it will create additional medical devices utilizing this unique, fully patented technology. A Proven Leadership One of the leading lights of OtoNexus is Caitlin Cameron, its Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Caitlin is a highly accomplished senior executive with 30 years’ cross-industry expertise in the life sciences, biotech, technology, and IT industries. She is a specialist in building high-performing start-up companies. Previously, she held Chair and CEO positions at several life sciences and IT companies, building successful businesses and organizations, creating value, and maximizing potential in a very short period of time. In addition, she has built organizations known for employee satisfaction, including being selected for the 100 best places to work in Washington. When advising emerging healthcare leaders and startups, Caitlin states that innovation is occurring at a breakneck speed, and there are many great ideas out there, but a great idea is not enough. She advises, “Start with your customer to thoroughly understand the problem you are trying to solve from their perspective. Understand their concerns and priorities. Your product should solve a problem, provide a better solution, and improve clinical outcomes while reducing healthcare costs. Unless you have all of those elements, it is tough to drive adoption into the healthcare system. If you improve outcomes but increase costs to the healthcare system, you will not achieve adoption. Improving outcomes while decreasing costs is a more attractive option for a healthcare system to consider.” Creating New Opportunities for Medical Applications Caitlin notes that it is important that diagnosis and treatment align with many stakeholders, including physicians, hospitals, patients, parents, and insurance companies. Everyone benefits when the diagnosis of viral versus bacterial infection is determined quickly, antibiotic use is minimized, time to diagnosis is reduced, clinical outcomes are improved, and unnecessary referrals to specialists are minimized.
COVER STORY
A Take on the Impact of the Pandemic on Medical Devices Talking about the impact of the pandemic on the medical device industry, Caitlin shares that one area that had an immediate impact on development was the loss of access to both clinicians and patients for clinical studies. She believes that access is critical for product development because realworld feedback is essential to create highly accurate products that integrate seamlessly into clinicians' workflow. OtoNexus overcame this issue by working with its clinical partners to develop enhanced cleaning and disinfection measures so that clinical work could continue. From a product development perspective, it also saw disruptions to the materials supply chain. To minimize this issue, it focused on qualifying multiple materials vendors to meet the long-term manufacturing needs, and ordering key items well in advance. This approach ensures it has supply on hand and numerous sources to supplement the supply chain for future demand.
Telehealth is the Future When asked about the future of personal care post the COVID-19 pandemic, Caitlin mentions that Telehealth has been available for many years. However, it was not routinely used. The pandemic precautions highlighted the convenience and effectiveness of this tool for both patients and physicians. Minimizing trips to the doctor's office or urgent care center is highly desirable for worried, busy parents. When your children are suffering in the middle of the night with a middle ear infection, you want to know the best treatment quickly. Providing patients and parents with practical tools they can use at home to share information with their physicians saves both time and costs. OtoNexus plans to simplify its device so parents can use its novel ultrasound technology at home and share the unique data it gathers electronically with their physicians. Testament to Excellence Dr. John Germiller – “Dr. Gates’ work in developing this technology will make a huge difference in diagnosis and management of middle ear infections.”
Dr. Richard Rosenfeld – “The availability of a device to improve the diagnostic accuracy of middle ear effusion would greatly benefit children.” Dr. Jerome Klein – “Dr. Gates is a physician who thinks outside the box. The bottom line is we need a sensitive and specific instrument for diagnosing middle ear infections."
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OtoNexus Medical Technologies’ state-of-the-art advanced ultrasound otoscope analyzes the presence and type of effusion so that primary care pediatricians can instantly and accurately assess middle ear infections and accurately determine antibiotic appropriateness.
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In addition to OtoNexus’ first breakthrough device, the company expects that its technology will create new opportunities for additional medical applications. Its unique, miniaturized ultrasound transducer technology provides data without requiring ultrasound gel. This novel approach can be leveraged to create new medical devices that dramatically improve patient care and reduce costs.
& & 20 The
Most
SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESSWOMEN to Watch, 2020
kimberly Khoury
Paving her Way in Sustainability Development
Healthy Living
18 | September 2021
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No more Fear of the Infections I
t is a common understanding that maintaining clean surroundings keeps us away from all kinds of infections. We might try our best, but what about the viruses and bacteria, which are so deadly and minute to our eyes that they cannot even be seen and can cost our lives. This is where infection prevention solution providers come to our rescue to get rid of all the infections, be it home, work, or any other place. They have the right solution to keep all types of infections out of our life. Now that we are in the fourth industrial revolution, which is the digital revolution, technology and innovation are helping significantly to detect infections and keeping us all safe from life-threatening infections. The X-Factor Within The potential of these companies is massive; they have been assisting the healthcare industry, organizations, and individuals by creating novel solutions that can control any infection. They act responsibly as they have to deal with the life of individuals. One of the other reasons that prove their worth in the industry is through their commitment to solving complex problems, and with the experienced team, they make a huge difference in all our lives. They are involved in continuous research, testing, and diagnosis to provide the best solution for us.
infection-free, including from such deadly covid variants. They currently offer a wide range of services, right from sanitizing workplaces to providing clinically validated products and services that give no room for infections. They have their challenges - to get the right solution with the trials and the continuous pressure to save people's lives. But having the right expertise solves all the challenges for them. Our responsibility is to follow the above-mentioned ideology of cleanliness and keep the surroundings clean, away from all infections. What does the Future Behold? Today, technological advancements are at the forefront of every industry. By leveraging ground-breaking technologies such as robotics, machine learning, AI, etc., these infection solution providers are building novel products and services to meet the growing need of the people. However, with the new innovations and developments in the world, there will be a rise in new infections too. And thus, the value of these infection solutions providers will increase too. The future is challenging and full of opportunities for these infection solution providers to provide the best tools that everyone can use to prevent infections. They will set the perfect platform providing services to an extensive range of industries.
No more Surprises by Variants Human life could not have been valued more than the recent pandemic event, which took thousands of lives. So, today these infection prevention solution providers are no less than a life-saver, serving well and keeping us all
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There will be no stop to the infections, and the demand for infections prevention solution providers will increase. They are ready to serve the industries and go on to, if not completely stop, but reduce and curb the infections around us.
September 2021 | 19
The 10 Most Innova ve Infec on Preven on Solu on Providers, 2021
Kelly Powers Chief Opera ng Officer and Co-founder
Steve Daly Chief Commercial Officer
Sco Mader Chief Execu ve Officer and Co-founder
22 | September 2021
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AseptiScope Inc. Bringing Novel Solutions to Reduce the Risk of Healthcare Associated Infections
F
or the last several decades, the challenge of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) has been growing. The risk of catching an infection while receiving healthcare treatments is immense and can increase during outbreaks, affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. With a mission to develop, manufacture, and commercialize novel solutions to address HAI challenges, an innovative medical device company named AseptiScope Inc. was formed. AseptiScope Inc. is driven to bring innovative and validated solutions to market that lower the risk of contamination and infection in healthcare systems.
We at Insights Success caught up with Scott Mader, the CEO and Co-founder, Kelly Powers, the COO and Cofounder, and Steve Daly, the Chief Commercial Officer. They shed light on how AseptiScope aims to deliver infection prevention for clinicians & patients through its novel solutions. The Conception Notion AseptiScope Inc. was founded in 2016 as a private entity by experienced business professionals and clinical experts. Most of the founding team members had worked together previously in various successful healthcare ventures; thus, it was a natural development for them to take an entrepreneurial step. Together, the team identified a significant need in the marketplace and set on a journey to establish a company dedicated to delivering essential, novel infection control solutions for patients and clinicians. The team built out the organization with key hires in the ensuing years, moved from product prototyping to commercialization, completed www.insightssuccess.com
its Series A funding, and is now kicking off its Series B raise. AseptiScope is also now scaling up manufacturing in support of a full-scale hospital-focused launch of its first product in the USA and is putting plans into place for expansion into other channels, as well as OUS markets. An Innovative Flagship Product AseptiScope recently launched its flagship infection control product, The DiskCover™ System. The system is carefully designed to deliver on specific performance, functional, and design attributes identified by both clinical experts and direct market evidence. Years of methodical work by the AseptiScope team to identify these attributes and to craft a product that delivers on them has now yielded the first and only touch-free solution to the longstanding challenge of stethoscope contamination. The innovation process, known as Market Driven Science, has never been deployed for stethoscope hygiene. The current standards of care for stethoscope hygiene (alcohol wipes or disposable stethoscopes) are impractical, ineffective, and pose risks of their own to patients and clinicians. In the case of alcohol wipes, in today's high-paced clinical workflow, they are seldom used as frequently and for as long as necessary. Even when they are, resistant pathogens like C. diff can persist on the surface of the stethoscope diaphragm. Regarding disposable, single patient stethoscopes, a recent study showed that these inferior devices deliver compromised sound quality resulting in an 11% rate of incorrect diagnoses, or, in other words, a number needed to harm of just ten patient encounters. September 2021 | 23
The DiskCover System is the first and only touch-free stethoscope barrier dispensing system. This first-in-class innovation dispenses single-use aseptic disk covers that are proven to protect patients from exposure to harmful pathogens and contaminants on the stethoscope diaphragm without compromising the acoustics critical for accurate diagnoses. The compact system, designed to be installed at the point of patient care, applies individual disk covers instantly, minimizing workflow disruption while encouraging clinician compliance. It is designed to work with the disposable, cleanroom manufactured Clean Cassette®. Each Clean Cassette houses 420 single-use disk covers and is carefully designed to maintain the aseptic status of each disk cover through to the point of application to the stethoscope. Incorporating Technology to Deliver a Higher Standard of Care For AseptiScope, it was critical to embrace the latest technology to realize the vision for a touch-free stethoscope hygiene system. Feedback from its clinical customers indicated that the standards of care were not practical and were ineffective. To be sure its offering was attractive to the market, it was essential for the company to build a system that could be routinely, consistently, and rapidly employed across an array of clinical settings. Specifically, AseptiScope had to incorporate technology to enable reliable delivery of an aseptic single-use disk cover instantly and in an on-demand, touch-free fashion. Adopting such new technology was critical as the touch-free approach serves as foundation for a pipeline of infection control products beyond stethoscope hygiene. AseptiScope recognizes and celebrates the renewed emphasis on hand hygiene in clinical settings. With that as a backdrop, the company collaborates with clinical experts to
24 | September 2021
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especially in 2020, the sheer increase in the need for medical services put a strain on its prospective customers' ability to even hear about the company's novel, and powerfully relevant, product offering. Now, as the pandemic has receded into the middle of 2021, this challenge has begun to diminish.
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Engage your customer from the moment you incorporate – and never stop.
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elevate recognition of the stethoscope as the second most potent vector of infection after the clinician's hands. Indeed, the stethoscope is used so frequently in the USA, 5.5 billion times per year, that it is frequently referred to as the 'clinician's third hand.' The company’s efforts have contributed to a recent call to action on the CDC, published in a leading clinical journal, to update stethoscope hygiene guidelines. Facing Unprecedented Times The pandemic presented AseptiScope with both challenges and opportunities. From a commercial perspective,
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Regarding the broader and longer-term impact of the Covid pandemic, AseptiScope has seen an overall increased focus on infection control measures and protocols. It has also seen a growing recognition of the stethoscope as a vector of infection, with several recent important publications in major medical journals. Notably, and as referenced previously, among these is a call to action on the CDC to update stethoscope hygiene guidelines, based on new data and innovations like the DiskCover System, for the first time since 2008. Heading into a New Dawn An increased focus on infection prevention is setting a new bar for medical care in wake of the pandemic. AseptiScope’s touch-free platform is the foundation for a pipeline of products that may eventually set new standards in the infection control and prevention arenas. Ultimately, such new solutions hold the promise to save valuable time, costly resources, and patient lives. AseptiScope maintains a very close connection with thought leaders in the clinical categories in which it intends to compete. In this fashion, it can identify gaps and build products and services that deliver on the attributes that the market requires. In the coming years, AseptiScope expects to be recognized as the company that established a new standard in, and expectation for, stethoscope hygiene. It also plans to feature a diversified portfolio of additional touch-free infection control products to improve safety for patient safety and clinicians worldwide.
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Infectious-Free
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Preventing Infections and their Spread by Using Variety of Tools and Technologies
T
he COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the role of some industries to a great degree for their most valuable contribution to society. Infection prevention is one such industry that plays the most precious role in preventing and controlling the spread of different infections in society. Having concern for the cleanliness and hygiene of people and keeping the environment spotlessly neat prevents people from being a victim of any infections. Infection prevention solution providers use different technologies for preventing infections. They also make it a point to spread awareness among the people about ‘prevention is always better than the cure’. With rising infections and infectious diseases in most parts of the world, the industry is trying to incorporate a methodology by which these infections can be prevented to ensure that there is no harm to public health. Although it is not possible to totally prevent the emergence of infections, the spread of these infections can certainly be controlled to some degree. The infection prevention and control industry is trying to come up with products that stop the emergence and spread of dangerous infections, and at the same time, it tries to make sure that people realize the importance of healthy and hygienic habits. The approach of complacency is always dangerous, and it leads to dangerous consequences. The infection prevention and control industry is trying to emphasize educating people to take better precautions than being complacent or negligent. With the onset of the pandemic, there has been tremendous growth in the market of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE Kit) market. PPE Kit is one of the most significant contributions of the Infection prevention and control industry. The risk of infections is almost redundant with the
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use of the PPE Kit. There are countless examples in which infections can be prevented by using a variety of tools, technologies, and different types of equipment. Especially the use of PPE Kits has been huge in the hospitals and clinics to avoid the cross-infections. Just like the PPE segment, the anti-bacterial drug segment and antimicrobial products are also among the most significant contributors to the infection prevention and control industry in minimizing infections. The evolution of the infection prevention and control industry is expected to be huge in the coming times, and then this industry will play a more important role in minimizing the emergence of infections and infectious diseases and the spread of infections, thereby securing the health of most people. The evolving technologies, different tools, and equipment facilitate the infection prevention and control industry in reducing infections and their spread. The infection prevention and control industry contributes significantly to achieving the sustainable development goal of achieving good health and well-being for everyone. It is growing and is anticipated to grow more rapidly in the coming times as more people are becoming health conscious and realizing the importance of putting personal and workplace hygiene and environment as clean as possible so that there is no possibility of any infections. The contribution from the infection prevention solution providers in a variety of ways is certainly a win-win for everyone. As more people will become health-conscious, there will be less risk of infections, and the overall health of the people can be better. They can be more functional and productive, leading to more development and growth of the overall society.
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Per Juul Nielsen CEO, UVD Robots
28 | September 2021
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The 10 Most Innova ve Infec on Preven on Solu on Providers, 2021
Developing Effective Robotics Technology for Healthcare Industry
Blue Ocean Robotics is a company that develops, produces, and sells professional service robots. The robots are primarily sold in healthcare, hospitality, construction, and agriculture. The company houses three robots, set up under their separate brand names, used throughout the commercialization, global distribution, and growth. Its portfolio includes: UVD Robots: An award-winning autonomous UV-C disinfection robot to help reduce healthcare associated infections. GoBe Robots: A mobile telepresence robot used for communication, social inclusion, and CO2 reductions. PTR Robots: A patient transfer and rehabilitation robot to secure easy patient transfers, faster rehabilitations, and to reduce injury risks in hospitals and nursing homes. We at Insights Success got into the conversation with Per Juul Nielsen, the CEO at UVD Robots (a subsidiary of Blue Ocean Robotics), to know more about UVD Robots and how it is preventing and reducing the spread of
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infectious diseases, viral, bacteria, and other types of harmful organic microorganisms in the environment. Effective Products When looking at UVD Robots, both Blue Ocean Robotics and the involved hospitals see huge potential with the UV Disinfection Robot to reduce HAIs, COVID-19 and provide a better hygiene standard for existing and future hospitals. UVD Robots provide an innovative way of making safe environments worldwide, using UV-C light to disinfect spaces such as hospitals rooms, schools, and offices. In this way, the UVD robot ensures a safer and better hygiene standard, especially in healthcare environments.
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We develop, create, and commercialize robots for humans.
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T
he application of robotics has come a long way, and it has been spreading its roots further into several industries, making it a reliable source of efficiency. Healthcare has been integrated with robotics for a long time, and it has been continuously improving and adapting with newer requirements to further help medical experts with their work. Blue Ocean Robotics is an industrial automation organization that creates and commercializes robots for various purposes.
September 2021 | 29
Humans using robots from Blue Ocean Robotics such as the UVD Robot can experience a positive change in how they work. These changes have resulted in a healthier and more meaningful workflow. A Helping to the Community Most of the UVD Robots are delivered to the healthcare sector, and others are supplied to a large range of industries. These industries want to use modern technology to efficiently protect humans or areas that could be infected with viruses.
Leveraging Technologies to Save Lives Per Juul Nielsen expresses that in the healthcare sector in general, a business that offers and tries to introduce new technology will have the most success in its development with evidence-driven and proven procurement. Working closely with Odense University Hospital from the beginning of the development of the UVD Robot has proven to be very giving for the company, and it still is. Introducing new technology to the healthcare sector is ultimately very important as it saves lives in the end. The Pandemic Effect Per Juul Nielsen states that since the global crisis started in November 2019, the world’s health has been threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Blue Ocean Robotics uses the UVD Robot as an autonomous disinfection solution applied in healthcare and multiple other industries to aid communities all over the world. Envisaging the Future In a cutthroat and volatile business world, Blue Ocean Robotics has created very strong and visible results by inventing the world’s first Robot Venture Factory. The business model of Blue Ocean Robotics has resulted in an extreme exponential curve for creating jobs in the robot industry in Denmark. To support global growth, Blue Ocean Robotics has scaled significantly up in recruiting employees in all parts of the company, including sales, marketing, customer service, finance, and production. A Valuable Guidance
One of the reasons how Blue Ocean Robotics increased its business is because of the development of its subsidiary UVD Robots. During COVID-19, the UVD Robot has hugely impacted the fight against the virus and has done efficient work. Therefore, UVD Robots have received a lot of success during the pandemic. This is because of the innovative technology that has proved its worth by saving lives via autonomous disinfection via the UVD Robot. Before the anticipated COVID-19 vaccine, the UV-C light disinfection was one of the most powerful ways to stop the spread of bacteria, as it kills the virus on surfaces and in the air.
In order to venture into the healthcare industry, one has to have an idea which they trust and believe can revolutionize this industry. Of course, it is heavily regulated as it comes down to human lives, which makes it difficult to venture into. “I would advise aspiring entrepreneurs venturing into the medical industry to find a partnering hospital or similar to work closely together with in order to get the best feedback from industry professionals, and by that creating solutions that will help humans in the best possible way,” concludes Per Juul Nielsen.
Following the Pandemic Blue Ocean Robotics has established a team that includes some of the world’s leading robot engineers. It has found the gap in the market that allows it to develop robots that can help humans with work-related tasks. 30 | September 2021
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Expert’s Insights
Cathy Cather Co-Founder Parallel Profile™
32 | September 2021
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TECHNOLOGIES
DISRUPTING
THE FUTURE OF THE
PHARMACEUTICAL
INDUSTRY
G
enetics are creating enormous opportunities for the pharmaceutical industry. From the creation of new drugs with far superior outcomes based on the genetics of the disease and the patient e.g., cancers, viruses, bacteria, etc., to existing drugs being selected, or new drugs being designed to treat based on the unique genetics of the individual, there are significant opportunities to greatly improve outcomes — with enormous revenue opportunity for the innovators. In another important arena, re-evaluating the 75-90% failed trials to identify drugs that can help many but not all, or harm some but not others based on genetics could enable the industry to recover trillions lost in failed trials where costs are estimated as high as $800 million $1.4 billion per failure.
Ÿ Physicians who have limited knowledge of pharmacy
Who it's not good for:
Why is adoption so slow?
Ÿ Current drugs now prescribed broadly in a "one size fits
Adoption is generally slow in health care and PGx is highly technical and confusing, and new information is being added rapidly, making it more difficult for prescribing physicians to keep up. As a result, it's very time consuming – time they don't have!
all" approach knowing that 90% of drugs don't work for 30-50% of the people taking them because of their unique genetics. In the testing of over 120,000 people, 43% were found to be currently taking a medication that they don't respond to normally. Pharmacogenetics or PGx tests allow patients' individual response to be identified and drugs that won't work well for them replaced with a better alternative. Ÿ Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) whose formularies are designed for this one size fits all prescribing will have their rebates negatively impacted when their customers insist on providing the right drug for each individual.
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beyond prescribing the standard treatment protocol for every patient and have no training in genetics will struggle with the excessive time required to interpret a long, technical, jargon rich report produced by PGx labs today without digital health innovation. What's creating the disruption? Centers of excellence around the country and the world are researching, validating, and curating findings of relevant genetic profiles that identify which patients will and will not respond as expected to many of the most commonly prescribed, specialty, and lifesaving drugs used today.
Parallel Profile™ is designed to make this breakthrough, lifesaving science both actionable and accessible to patients and their prescribing physicians within the current practice realities. Accuracy and relevance to the individual patient is critically important, of course, but without speed it's not practical.
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That's why Parallel Profile™ has transformed PGx lab reports to include: Ÿ Patient friendly summaries that help them focus on what
they need to consider including genetic impact, alternatives that may work better and/or may be lower out of pocket cost based on their drug coverage, and won't interact negatively or impact other medications they are taking. Ÿ Physician-friendly summaries that focus the results on the considerations immediately relevant and the scientific resources to help them quickly understand and decide how to individualize this patient's treatment plan. Ÿ A "Check-a-Med™" functionality that lets both the patient and the prescriber instantly check a new prescription or over the counter medication for genetic impact, interactions, cost, and identify better alternatives in seconds. Ÿ Deep integration with employers' benefit programs so that not only is it a covered benefit, but every case management nurse, disease management or behaviral health coach, second opinion advocate, care navigator, telemedicine provider, PBM, and other program all have access to immediately order a Profile when appropriate and to access the patient's Parallel Profile™ to inform their care or advice. Innovation is difficult unless there are compelling reasons to change. 128,000 Americans die every year from adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to FDA approved drugs used properly, and 2.7 million are harmed enough to be admitted inpatient. Many more incur emergency room expense. ADRs are life threatening, can be life changing, and are very expensive.
97% of people have at least one genetic variant that impacts how they will respond to a medication—that together with drug interactions is why drug failures and ADRs are so common. This new science powered by Parallel Profile™ can greatly reduce very expensive ER visits and hospital admissions due to avoidable ADRs. The admissions are on average responsible for as much as 25-50% of major self-insured employers' outlier claims (over $150,000) and the average ADR cost is over $78,000, so of course they are motivated. Employers are also very dissatisfied with traditional PBMs who have failed to reduce drug costs and whose restrictive formularies can drive lessor quality and higher cost care—Saving $20 on a drug but costing $78,000 in a hospital admission. As drug failures are especially prominent in behavioral health and diabetes, focus in this area will also greatly increase the effectiveness of those benefit programs as well. Shortening the long adoption delay Parallel Profile™, named one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Health Care Companies by EHIR (Employers Healthcare Innovation Roundtable), and identified by Forbes as one of the top women led startups driving the future of healthcare, ushers in the new era of life saving Precision Prescribing delivering state-of-the-art information to providers and patients now and continuously with ongoing updates as new information is deemed reportable. Parallel Profile™ alerts users who are on a drug when newly discovered genetic impact becomes known, eliminating the long years lag between new science and application.
About the Author Cathy co-founded Parallel Tes ng and launched Parallel Profile™ to reduce the number of deaths (128,000/year) and inpa ent admissions (2.7 million/year) from adverse drug reac ons to properly taken FDA approved medica ons. She has a proven track record in developing and accelera ng the growth of innova ve health care companies that have a financial impera ve to make health care more affordable, higher quality and accessible.
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Mr. Vijay Khairnar Owner
Khairnar Cleaning Services
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The 10 Most Innova ve Infec on Preven on Solu on Providers, 2021
Khairnar
Cleaning Services
Delivering Highest Quality Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting Services
C
leanliness is the foundational pillar of good health. It is the most important aspect of living an infection-free life and staying away from diseases. A spotlessly clean living environment and working space are fundamental to preventing us from being infected by any virus or something detrimental to our health.
It continues its reputation for excellence and customer satisfaction by focusing on its core vision and mission by creating a hygienic living environment and working space for a healthier life.
Taking the significance of a clean environment into consideration, Khairnar Cleaning Services was formed. Khairnar Cleaning delivers a wide range of cleaning services to serve each of its customers with the highest level of integrity and satisfaction by creating hygiene living and working space for their healthy life. It is well equipped to provide in-depth cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting services in high-risk areas with more effective steam sterilization and misting sterilization processes.
Khairnar Cleaning Services offers a wide range of intensive cleaning services from floor to ceiling, which comprises indepth cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting services, including ULV – Ultra Low Volume disinfection, steam sterilization, and spraying process by using EPA / DVG approved international quality products viz.
Creating Hygienic Environment for Healthier Life The inception of Khairnar Cleaning Services took place four years back as a proprietorship company in Pune. Mr. Vijay S. Khairnar left his corporate job with Sulzer Chemtech (UK) Limited, Middle East, to start up his own business in Pune, Maharashtra, in 2018. Being from Sales & Marketing, Project & Operation management field, Mr. Vijay individually explored the business opportunities by offering a wide range of cleaning services in a professional way for domestic, commercial, and industrial customers. Currently, he is serving as the CEO of the company. The successful business of Khairnar Cleaning Services has been built on repetitive customers and an excellent reputation maintained largely on ‘word of mouth’ recommendations. The vision of Khairnar Cleaning Services is to deliver the highest quality cleaning consistently.
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Providing Wide Range of Intensive Cleaning Services
It uses CLEANISEPT® Liquid, ULTRASOL® Active, ASEPTOMAN®, TASKI®, which are certified, ecologically friendly, and safe natural pH products that kill tough germs, reducewall fungi, inhabit dangerous viruses, fast counter sanitizing, and remove bad odor and powerful toilets cleaner. To support Indian made products, Khairnar Cleaning Services recently implemented to use made-inIndia products – MEDNTEK-NAHS, MEDNTEK DRLS 13N, MEDNTEK-R82, and MEDNTEK W-10 to strongly support ‘Vocal for Local’. The company provides residential services like Home Deep Cleaning, Baby Room Cleaning, Kitchen Cleaning, Bathroom Cleaning, Sofa Shampooing, Mattress Shampooing, Windows Cleaning, Sanitization, and Disinfection Services. It provides commercial services such as Office Deep Cleaning, Kindergarten Cleaning, Restaurant Cleaning, Carpet Shampooing, Façade Cleaning, Post Construction Cleaning, Water Tank Cleaning, Turnkey Interior Cleaning, Sanitization, and Disinfection Services. It also provides industrial services that include Warehouse Cleaning, Roof Cleaning, Floor Scrubbing & Cleaning,
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Taking Necessary Precautions to Avoid Infections
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Khairnar Cleaning Services is committed to delight its customers with best quality cleaning services.
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Sanitization & Disinfection Services. Its services comprise Intensive cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting activities followed by manual spraying, mist sterilization, and steam sterilization. It covers all areas which aren’t traditionally covered by a regular or spring cleaning.
Talking about the impact of the pandemic, Vijay expresses that it has opened the doors of many different types of industries for services. It has also created awareness on hygiene, let it be hand hygiene (major and basic to avoid any type of infection) or keeping facilities clean. There has also been an exploration and invention of new and easy technologies related to same to make our lives safe. He states,“Of course we cannot control the pandemic, but we as an individual can definitely take necessary precautions to prevent it; a good lesson is taught to all of us.” Handling Complexities of Sanitization and Disinfection When it comes to contributing to the community, Khairnar Cleaning Services does it by sharing the knowledge and learning with daily cleaning tips to maintain hygiene after serving its professional services to its existing and new customers and community. Its professional team process the right set of knowledge and techniques to handle the complexities of sanitization and disinfection. “Certainly, we would take a chance to contribute more by conducting few training programs to create more awareness,” putsVijay.
Using New Technologies and Methods on Cleaning and Disinfection
Providing Best Solutions and Becoming Well-known in Infection Control
Moreover, Khairnar Cleaning Services provides direct interaction with the disinfectant company representative of the client, which helps them resolve their concerns and doubts at the point. It provides all the necessary documents regarding the same. It uses new technologies and tools to serve its purpose. It keeps self-update with improved methods and procedures on cleaning and disinfection.
Khairnar Cleaning Services aims at providing the best solutions for all possible types of concerns related to contamination or bioburden. The company plans to explore more opportunities in other cities, contribute to creating more employment, invest in employee skills development, adopt new technologies, and know types of equipment to become a well-known company in infection control.
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