It is estimated that each year approximately 1,100 patients in Sweden alone die as a result of HAI. 300 of these deaths are caused by urinary tract infections which, in turn, are related to catheter use. Clinical studies have shown that the risk of infection in conjunction with the use of urinary tract catheters with Bactiguard’s protective anti-microbial surface is reduced by up to 40 percent. This means that using BIP Foley can save the lives of at least 100 patients annually in the Swedish healthcare system.

In the US, 85% of hospitals already use Bactiguard®. Bactiguard’s coating prevents approximately 3,900 deaths from HAI there and saves the American healthcare system half a billion dollars each year. In Sweden, approximately 300 patients die each year as a result of urinary tract infections; among older patients mortality is three times higher than among other patients, which makes it one of the most common causes of premature death.
Several healthcare institutions in Sweden are now beginning to use BIP Foley and the goal is clear – to reduce HAI and thus the number of unnecessary deaths and the suffering and financial costs which result from healthcare-related infections.

“We are now starting to deliver our own product in Sweden and we are convinced that BIP Foley will become an important part of the work on reducing HAI. Bacteria-related diseases which are spread in hospital environments are one of healthcare’s most significant problems today, not in the least in light of the fact that an ever-increasing number or strains of bacteria are becoming antibiotic-resistant,” says Christian Kinch, CEO of Bactiguard.
The use of catheters coated with an anti-bacterial surface can avert approximately 100 deaths and save the Swedish healthcare system at least SEK 290 million per year.

Bactiguard BIP Foley

BIP Foley is a urinary tract catheter covered with Bactiguard’s unique, extremely thin coating, which is only several atoms thick. Small quantities of precious metals, such as gold and palladium, interact to provide an anti-microbial effect which efficiently delays growth of bacteria and other microbes on the treated surface.

Bactiguard has now progressed from supplying only the actual coating to supplying its own finished products produced in-house and under its trade mark. The first is the BIP Foley urinary tract catheter which will be followed by products with Bactiguard’s coating within areas such as blood catheters and respiratory aids.

The coating has been in use since 1995 and is to be found on products registered with both the FDA and the Japanese Department of Health, as well as on CE classified products.
In the US and Japan, the coating is sold under licence through the American medical technology company Bard, which uses it on its catheters. In the US, 85% of hospitals use catheters with Bactiguard’s coating and the hope is that Sweden will also quickly embrace this simple way of reducing healthcare-related infections.

Bactiguard helps save lives

Urinary tract infections constitute a very high percentage (30-40%) of all healthcare-related infections. By using Bactiguard® coated catheters, the risk of urinary tract infections is reduced by up to 40%. In Sweden, 30,000 patients annually are treated for urinary tract infections at a cost of SEK 880 million. Approximately 300 of these patients die as a result of urinary tract infections and, among older patients, mortality is three times higher than among other patients, which makes this one of the most common causes of premature death.
The use of catheters coated with an anti-bacterial surface can, in any event, avert 100 deaths and save the Swedish healthcare system at least SEK 290 million net per year.

In the US, 85% of hospitals already use Bactiguard’s technology and thereby prevent approximately 3,900 deaths from nosocomial infection. The next step in the US is to begin to introduce Bactiguard® at nursing homes and similar care facilities outside of hospitals.

Bactiguard – a Swedish company and invention

Bactiguard® is based on a Swedish invention and the company was founded in 1978. The coating has been in use since the middle of the 1990s but it is only now that Bactiguard is going the whole way and launching its own products.

Bactiguard has co-operated for many years with the American medical technology company CR Bard Inc., whose Bactiguard®-coated urinary tract catheters are market leaders in the US and Japan. This co-operation will continue while, at the same time, Bactiguard will go from being a licensor of certain technology to a fully fledged medical technology company.
Bactiguard’s rapidly growing Swedish operations are conducted in Stockholm and Småland, with full scale analysis and microbiology laboratories as well as production facilities with cleanrooms. In addition, Bactiguard has manufacturing in China in order to begin developing the enormous market there.

Bactiguard is also an official infection control partner in a co-operation programme between China’s Ministry of Health and Sweden’s Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and a similar arrangement is now being prepared with India’s Ministry of Health. These countries have shown enormous interest in Bactiguard’s technology.

Last year approximately 14.5 million patients used products with Bactiguard’s coating and, since the start, 80 million people have been protected by Bactiguard’s coating.

For more information, contact:

Christian Kinch, CEO, Bactiguard: +46 8 440 58 80
Johan Hähnel, +46 70 605 6334
www.bactiguard.se