Recognized as a BC startup to watch in 2023, Vancouver’s UVX is a groundbreaking venture that focuses on reducing infection risks and cleaning waste, beginning with a crucial target: senior homes.
Based within UBC’s HATCH accelerator and backed by healthcare investors like HaloHealth, UVX has completed product R&D, validated the technology in the lab, and is now moving on to piloting their core technology, 222nm far-UVC light.
Unlike conventional UV light that is harmful, far-UVC light has shown to be safe for humans while retaining its germicidal properties. As such, it can be used for disinfection in the presence of people.
This week UVX announced that among their first pilots will be the Nova Scotia Health Authority with Research Nova Scotia investing $2.8 million into clinical trials featuring UVX’s technology in senior care homes in Halifax, Falmouth, and Sydney.
Administered by Nova Scotia Health Authority (NS Health), the trials will be led by geriatrician Dr. Kenneth Rockwood and will be the world’s only registered double blind randomized control trial with disinfection lights used in the presence of people. Outcomes from this study promise to support regulatory approval and public acceptance of UVX’s technology.
With Atlantic provinces aging quickly and added pressure on the region’s healthcare and nursing homes’ system, reducing preventable infections will help relieve pressure on the healthcare system.
The combination of capital from Research Nova Scotia and a provincial health authority leading the trial, speaks to the promise of UVX and their technology for healthcare at large.
Behind UVX’s revolutionary concept stand two visionary co-founding engineers, CEO Kunal Sethi and CTO Saimir Sulaj.
In June 2020 the pair came across a CBC article that highlighted a shocking statistic: Canadian senior homes accounted for 81% of all COVID-19 deaths – double the average in developed countries.
Curious to know why senior homes were disproportionately impacted, their research began and six months later they quit their jobs to work on UVX full-time.
Fast forward to today and their first product is Zener, a smart ceiling device (the size of a smoke detector) that continuously kills pathogens within seconds, on both surfaces and in the air, even when people are in the room. Unlike chemicals, UVX’s solution is automated (eliminating human error) without disrupting operations or releasing any waste or toxins.
For senior homes, lower infection risk means increased occupancy while decreasing staff sick days and agency nurse costs. For the environment, it means reduced unnecessary cleaning and therefore less toxins and waste released.
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