Infection Intel: Staying Ahead With Company Updates and Product Innovations.

Johnson & Johnson MedTech Collaborates to Standardize Surgical Site Outcomes Reporting

Johnson & Johnson MedTech, in partnership with global surgical experts, has announced efforts to create a standardized classification system for surgical site outcomes (SSOs). This initiative aims to address the underreporting of wound complications, such as infections, wound reopenings, bleeding, and fluid collections, which burden patients and healthcare systems worldwide.

Currently, no comprehensive global standard exists for defining and monitoring SSOs. This initiative seeks to improve data collection, enhance prevention strategies, and enable earlier intervention for complications beyond surgical site infections (SSIs), accounting for up to 31% of all hospital-acquired infections. By expanding surveillance to include other wound complications, care teams can capture a more accurate picture of patient outcomes and provide timely treatments.

“Surgical site complications represent a significant global unmet need, with inconsistent definitions and reporting practices limiting the ability to improve outcomes across health care systems,” said Nisha Johnson, global president of wound closure, healing, and biosurgery at Johnson & Johnson MedTech. “This weekend’s symposium represents a pivotal opportunity to bridge the gap by bringing global experts together to reach a consensus on shared industry guidelines. By standardizing the way health care teams classify and report complications, the industry can deliver more precise interventions, reduce the burden on health care systems, and ultimately ensure better outcomes for patients.”

The company plans to leverage its Polyphonic digital ecosystem to connect data from surgical technologies and robotics, enhancing surveillance and improving patient engagement.

Experts like Giles Bond-Smith, MBBS, BSc, FRCS, of NHS Oxford Trust, and Antonia Chen, MD, an orthopedic surgeon, emphasized the importance of creating a universal language for SSOs that spans surgical specialties. Such consistency can drive global care standards, ensuring earlier intervention and better patient care.

This collaborative effort aims to redefine surgical wound management through digital solutions and standardized reporting, paving the way for predictive and personalized care models that improve surgical outcomes worldwide.

Merck and Ridgeback Begin Phase 3 Study of LAGEVRIO for High-Risk COVID-19 Patients

Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics have launched the Phase 3 MOVe-NOW clinical trial to assess LAGEVRIO (molnupiravir) for treating high-risk, nonhospitalized adults with COVID-19. The study aims to address patients who cannot use alternative treatments, such as nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, due to drug interactions or inaccessibility.

Enrolling over 3,000 participants globally, the trial evaluates a new formulation of LAGEVRIO, featuring smaller 400-mg tablets for ease of use. Participants will receive either LAGEVRIO or a placebo twice daily for 5 days. The trial also incorporates extended follow-ups to assess outcomes like long COVID.

LAGEVRIO, currently authorized under Emergency Use Authorization in the US, has been used by over 8.3 million patients globally. The study seeks to expand its efficacy data in today’s COVID-19 environment, supporting future licensure applications.

“COVID-19 remains a leading cause of hospitalization and death around the world, and further studying LAGEVRIO may provide important insights into how it may be used to help prevent severe outcomes in the current COVID-19 environment,” said Paula Annunziato, MD, senior vice president, infectious diseases and vaccines, Global Clinical Development, Merck Research Laboratories. “We continue to believe LAGEVRIO may be an important option for people with risk factors like older age, multiple comorbidities, and immunocompromising conditions, who are more likely to advance to severe COVID-19, and for whom other antiviral treatments may not be appropriate because of the potential for drug-drug interactions.”

The trial’s findings could help enhance treatment options for vulnerable populations, advancing COVID-19 care worldwide. For more details, visit clinicaltrials.gov.

GermPass: Transforming Infection Control with Automated Disinfection Technology

MicroLumix Bioscience Technologies is leading a revolution in infection prevention and control with its groundbreaking Automated Touchpoint Disinfection Technology (ATDT). GermPass, the company’s flagship product, addresses the persistent challenge of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and pathogen transmission on high-touch public surfaces like door handles, restroom stalls, and elevator buttons. These surfaces serve as a "germ bank," facilitating the spread of illnesses even with regular cleaning protocols and proper hand hygiene.

GermPass employs advanced semiconductors to deliver UVC light at the optimal germ-killing wavelength, targeting pathogens directly on high-risk surfaces. This technology eliminates 99.999% of germs within seconds—a 5-log germ reduction independently verified by renowned microbiologist Charles Gerba, PhD, against various bacteria, viruses, fungi, and spores. Unlike area-wide UVC solutions, GermPass focuses its disinfecting power on localized touchpoints, ensuring unparalleled efficacy by maintaining direct line-of-sight exposure, essential for UVC light to deactivate pathogens.

The technology is a major breakthrough in infection prevention, particularly in hospitals, schools, and other high-traffic areas where surface contamination is a key driver of illness. GermPass stands out as the world’s first and only ATDT, offering a highly effective and practical solution. By integrating this technology into public and health care spaces, MicroLumix Bioscience Technologies is making a meaningful, lasting impact on global health, creating safer environments and significantly reducing the risk of infections. GermPass is a vital ally in the fight against HAIs, empowering healthier communities worldwide.

If you are interested in learning more about the MicroLumix mission, connect with the company through their website, https://microlumix.com/

Evinature

An innovative Startup, Evinature, may offer a reduced risk of infection for patients with diverse gut disorders through its rigorous investigation of evidence-based nutraceuticals. One such condition is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), encompassing Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, which afflicts an estimated 2-3 million people in the US. IBD is driven by an "overactive" immune system in the gut, causing chronic morbidity and reduced quality of life.

Many drugs used to treat these disorders are accordingly inhibiting the immune system to reduce the inflammatory damage in the gut. However, in doing so, they also predispose individuals to a higher risk of infections, some of which are uniquely opportunistic infections, ie, caused by organisms that rarely affect patients with nonsuppressed immune systems or increase the risk for ordinary infections.

For example, the advent of recent small molecules from the JAK inhibitor class has been associated with a significantly higher risk of varicella zoster, and pre-treatment vaccination is advocated. Evinature has developed a unique botanical combination from traditional herbal medicine called CurQD. Designed for patients with IBD, CurQD nutraceutical was found to be effective for patients with IBD in placebo-controlled and multi-center cohort studies, including in patients who were not responding to biologics.

Moreover, in its publication in one of the leading Gastro journals, Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol, this year, the Evinature scientific team has convincingly shown that CurQD activates a unique molecular pathway in the colon mucosa called Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR), which is known to be involved in repair of epithelial and mucosal lining, but is not implicated in immune suppression.

"This finding," says Professor Shomron Ben-Horin, MD, head of the medical team at Evinature, "sits well with the clinical data on CurQD showing it has not been associated with any case of opportunistic infection in thousands of treated patients, and it provides a mechanistic explanation for why this may be so."

CurQD has been incorporated into the clinical practice of many leading IBD centers in the USA and has also recently become the first and only nutraceutical to pass the scrutiny of the Ingestible Committee of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America. The company has continued striving towards its vision of genuinely evidence-based nutraceutical with its recently introduced DivertX, aimed to support patients with ongoing chronic symptoms after a diverticulitis attack.

Many of these patients receive repeated courses of antibiotics, potentially predisposing them to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains.

In a phase 1 study, DivertX resulted in a 70% response rate and in the alleviation of symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloatedness, and altered bowel movements among patients with this post-diverticulitis syndrome. "As such," adds Ben-Horin, "we hope DivertX will not only bring much-needed relief to patients with chronic post-diverticulitis symptoms but may also reduce exposure to unnecessary antibiotics, in turn reducing the prevalence of infections with hard-to-treat antibiotic-resistant bacterias in patients and in the community."