Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Awards 2019

34 GHP / 2019 Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Awards , Most Innovative Pathogen Prevention Research Company 2019 - Europe A small, UK-based research and development company, Medi-Immune Ltd. is at the forefront of creating ground-breaking technology to combat respiratory problems. Having invented, developed and tested a new approach to combatting airborne pathogens, the firmare focused solely on respiratory protection and conferring immunity through their new device, ProtectivAir®. Find out why this research company are one of Europe’s most innovative pathogen preventers of 2019 as part of our Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Awards 2019. Founded in 2008, immunology company Medi-Immune is responsible for developing new and innovative technology that seeks to address the ever- impending threat of new pathogens. Aiming to deliver protection from airborne pathogens regardless of mutation, Medi-Immune are offering a unique solution to a dangerous possibility. Scientists across the world and the World Health Organisation have predicted that society can expect another airborne pandemic, despite not knowing where it will originate from, or when. Current scientific knowledge estimates it will emerge from a mutation of avian influenza, with likely mutations being one or two steps away from human infection and transmission. When the pathogen does arrive, there will be an immediate need to identify the disease, before developing and producing a vaccine in suitable numbers. Respiratory diseases can be extremely costly to deal with, including high mortality rates, such as the 2009 swine flu epidemic which ended up costing the UK more than one billion pounds, purely in preparatory and response costs. Adding hospitalisation and loss-of-income costs pushed the figure much higher. Providing immediate protection solutions against all airborne pathogens to save lives and money is the primary goal of Medi-Immune, a small UK-based research and development company specialising in immunisation and pathogens. Whilst respiratory protection has remained unchanged for a number of years, this company has developed ground-breaking technology, ProtectivAir®. ProtectivAir® is a new and improved approach that provides non-infective air that can be delivered via a personal wearable device or integrated into existing close environments to protect multiple people. Developed by three of Medi-Immune’s inventive directors, James Love, John Maudsley, and John James, this new protective device is representing a clear shift in the existing field of immunology and pathogen protection. With technology at the forefront of the immunology industry, Medi-Immune have created the device to eliminate the threat of any airborne pathogens. ProtectivAir® uses ultraviolet C, shortwave germicidal radiation, to sterilise any inhaled airborne pathogens. The air passes through a compact, wearable sterilising chamber where the UVc photons pass through the pathogens and disable their ability to reproduce. Used with a filter-free face mask, a ten-billion times reduction in viable influenza viral particles is achieved at normal breathing rates. Because the method does not use a filtration system, it allows disabled airborne pathogens to be delivered directly to the respiratory tract of the wearer. Then, the disabled pathogens allow the body to initiate