Sterifre Medical has raised $8million in a Series B private equity round of financing. Sterifre had previously raised $12 million in a 2017 Series A offering, bringing total capital financing to $20 million to date.
The company is commercializing a suite of products based on an innovative disinfection and sterilization technology to address the acute need for rapid, point-of-care device disinfection in healthcare facilities.
“Proceeds from the Series B financing will fund our initial commercialization in the U.S. Acute Care Market beginning early next year,” said Richard Shea, CEO of Sterifre. “We appreciate the ongoing support of our investment partners. This financing will enable the company to play a unique role in increasing staff and patient safety.”
Preventing healthcare-acquired infections is a key challenge for hospital staff. Handheld portable medical equipment can harbor pathogenic communicable organisms such as MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), Pseudomonas, Influenza, Staphylococcus Aureus, Clostridioides Difficile and other harmful bacteria, viruses and spores. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in 31 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection, and more than one in 17 (98,000 patients) dies from them. In addition, the U.S. healthcare system spends billions each year battling these infections.
Sterifre’s patented technology, called Aura, is a compact one-touch system that treats multiple organisms on hard-surface items used in doctors’ offices and hospitals. A fully automated medical device disinfection system, it replaces manual processes that are frequently deployed incorrectly, damaging to equipment and ineffective.
A New Solution for Challenging Environments
The Instructions for Use published with point of care medical devices prescribe specific chemical disinfectants chosen for compatibility with each device’s surface materials. “Selecting the proper wipe-based chemical for a specific device in the fast-paced healthcare setting is challenging for any provider,” Shea explained. “Often the proper chemistry-based solution is not readily available at the point of use and a substitute is chosen strictly out of the need to complete the disinfection task.”
By adding the Aura system to Instructions for Use, Shea said, “medical device manufacturers help customers protect their equipment investment, automate the manual disinfection process and reduce environmental impact.”
Preventing Materials Issues Following Disinfectant Usage
Materials such as plastics compounds, glues and the coatings of display screens are susceptible to corrosion, cracking, fogging and general material destruction over repeated exposure to many commonly used chemical disinfectants. Yet, the various manual ‘wipes’ and sprays typically used to deliver these chemistries can be both very abrasive and corrosive.
“Multiple studies have shown that the use of improper disinfectants results in Environmental Stress Cracking and premature device failure,” Shea noted. “These harmful effects can be virtually eliminated by using Sterifre’s Aura point of care system to disinfect these devices – while still achieving the appropriate EPA regulated pathogen kill.”
A New Approach to Rapid Disinfection
Aura enables the safe and effective use of Hydrogen Peroxide, the widely recognized microbicide, via a novel approach that does not damage the items being processed. This extends equipment’s useful life, delivers standardized disinfection without exposing users to chemicals and reduces the cost of infection control.
The company is actively pursuing registration with the EPA for common problematic pathogenic organisms found in the healthcare setting. Sterifre believes Aura will be the first technology of its kind to achieve full EPA approval.
“Aura is a game-changer for infection control,” concluded Shea, the former CEO of Olympus Respiratory America, a leader in novel treatments for patients with severe COPD; and one of the founding executives of Stericycle Inc. (SRCL), a worldwide leader in infection control related products and services.
By NS Staff Writer
