Mercyhealth, a healthcare provider with multiple hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin, announced it will deploy Molekule's air purification technology, including its newly released commercial product, Air Pro RX, intended for healthcare facilities, to enhance protection for its patients and frontline medical personnel.
The devices will be deployed throughout Mercyhealth's five hospitals in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Molekule's PECO air purification technology has been demonstrated to capture and destroy airborne viruses, including testing of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) proxy viruses.
Waiting areas and emergency rooms air purification
Mercyhealth will be prioritizing the use of Molekule's air purification devices to inpatient rooms for patients who are symptomatic or who have tested positive for COVID-19, providing even greater protection for patients and medical professionals who face potential increased exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The devices will also be integrated across several of Mercyhealth's waiting areas and emergency rooms.
FDA issued guidance for the use of particular air purifiers against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) during COVID-19
Mercyhealth will be utilizing Molekule Air devices and Molekule's newly released medical-grade unit, Air Pro RX, which is intended for critical care environments including their Intensive Care Units and operating rooms. Air Pro RX has been granted 510(k) Class II Medical Device clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It uses the same PECO technology as Molekule's suite of consumer products, is portable, does not require any HVAC installation, and begins cleaning the air immediately.
Quality air for employees and visitors
"At Mercyhealth, our goal is to bring the latest standards of medicine and the best quality of care to the millions of patients we treat annually, as well as provide protection for our employees and visitors," said Ruth Yarbrough, Mercyhealth Vice President of Quality. "After a pilot study and further evaluation by our medical and quality teams, we are excited to be among the first hospitals in the United States to utilize Molekule's PECO technology in our facilities."
This announcement comes shortly after the FDA issued guidance for the use of particular air purifiers against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) during the current COVID-19 emergency. Molekule's devices satisfy the performance criteria outlined by the FDA in the guidance, and thus can be sold during the current health emergency as medical devices intended to destroy the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Air purification technology
Patients are in respiratory distress and healthcare workers are at a high risk of airborne exposure"
Because SARS-CoV-2 can be aerosolized and transmitted through droplets in the air, having proper air purification technology that may be effective in the destruction of the virus, in addition to personal protective equipment (PPE) or other similar medical countermeasures (MCM), adds an important layer of protection to high-risk areas. In addition to the recent guidance provided by the FDA, Molekule's Air Pro RX device has specifically been granted 510(k) Class II Medical Device clearance by the FDA.
"As a company rooted in scientific innovation, we are constantly looking at ways to bring the power of PECO technology to those who need it most," said Jaya Rao, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Molekule. "Today, we are facing an invisible threat in the air and it's more important than ever to get our PECO technology into medical facilities where patients are in respiratory distress and healthcare workers are at a high risk of airborne exposure. The work we are doing with Mercyhealth is a defining moment for getting new air purification technology deployed in the battle against this virus."
SARS-CoV-2-like virus effectiveness
Molekule's most recent third-party testing conducted with the Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, Intertek, on virus Phi X 174, a proxy virus to SARS-CoV-2, demonstrated the ability of Molekule's PECO technology to destroy the virus and reduce the virus concentration by 98.7% in two hours. Additional testing recently conducted at Aerosol Research and Engineering Labs (ARE) using the virus MS2 Bacteriophage, a proxy virus for SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and measles, due to also being an RNA type virus and particle size, demonstrated the ability of Molekule's technology to reduce up to 99.99% of the virus concentration in just 2 hours.
In December of 2018, Mercyhealth and Molekule concluded a pilot clinical trial in Mercyhealth's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), which was recently published in The Cureus Journal of Medical Science. The clinical trial pilot evaluated the effects of Molekule's patented air purification technology, PECO, for hospitalized children who were admitted with respiratory distress.
Mercyhealth found during this pilot trial, that the use of PECO technology was associated with a reduction in the overall length of hospital stays, as well as reduced rates of intubation, nebulizer usage and non-invasive ventilation.