Photodisinfection technology firm Ondine Biomedical Inc. has announced a joint venture with businessman Yanan Zhao to bring two of its nonantibiotic, photodisinfection therapies to health care facilities in China. The two products are Periowave, for treatment of oral infections, and MRSAid, for the prevention of surgical-site infection, which is a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. Ondine's technology provides rapid antimicrobial efficacy to prevent and eliminate infections without encouraging the formation and spread of antibiotic resistance. With Zhang Yanming, director of a new free-trade zone in the Henan province of China (left) in attendance, Carolyn Cross, chair of the board and CEO of Ondine Biomedical (center), recently signed a joint venture agreement with Yanan Zhao (far right) to bring photodisinfection to the Chinese market. Courtesy of CNW Group/Ondine Biomedical Inc. Ondine's photodisinfection therapy for hospitals debuted in the Pre-Surgical Decolonization Project in Vancouver General Hospital, Canada's largest acute care hospital, which received the 2013 Innovation Award of Excellence from the International Consortium for Prevention & Infection Control in 2013. The project reduced infection rates by 39 percent with a 12-month nonantibiotic pilot program involving more than 5,000 patients who were treated with MRSAid photodisinfection therapy prior to a major surgery.