Company Profile
Vyv’s mission shines a light on common germs, including bacteria and viruses, with a cleaner and more reliable solution that’s better for people and the planet. Many disinfection methods we rely on today are only used intermittently, aren’t used appropriately, and just don’t go far enough. Cleaning sprays and wipes are only effective as temporary solutions on surfaces, and newer UV technology isn’t safe for use around humans. Vyv challenges these limitations with their proprietary white antimicrobial light that keeps common germs at bay, protects spaces—and your peace of mind—and eases the demands of cleaning and maintenance.
Approach to Healthcare
At Vyv, it all started with a bright idea stemming from an all-too-common personal experience with germ challenges in hospitals. Vyv’s CEO, Colleen Costello, experienced her grandmother contracting an unexpected and preventable MRSA infection in a hospital during what was supposed to be routine single night stay. After deep research and review of the underlying challenges and limitations causing these significant issues, it became apparent that this was not an isolated incident. She and a team of scientists and engineers turned their attention to developing smarter ways to manage bacteria levels and subsequently developed Vyv’s proprietary continuous antimicrobial light technology. What has emerged from this bright idea are new ways to apply antimicrobial light, which also provides high quality illumination, in a way that can overcome the limitation of common intermittent cleaning options at controlling clinically relevant organisms that are linked to HAIs and SSIs. While Vyv is supporting hundreds of healthcare clients throughout the U.S. they are new into the United Kingdom and as such have partnered with Savage Lighting, experts in designing and manufacturing top quality bespoke lighting, based out of Leicestershire to deliver and support a portfolio of products that meet the needs of UK healthcare institutions. Through this partnership, their combined teams of lighting engineers and microbial specialists can help every facility design for the right dosage solution for their unique space and work with all constituents within the retrofit and construction process to deliver the best solution for customers.
Impact of Products/Services on Healthcare:
Designed to seamlessly replace overhead lighting in healthcare facilities, Vyv’s proprietary lighting technology is built to multi-task by continuously reducing microbial growth in occupied indoor spaces, while also providing high-quality white illumination. Our antimicrobial technology harnesses specific wavelengths of visible light that target molecules exclusively found within microbes and pathogens. This ultimately creates an inhospitable environment for viruses, bacteria, mold, yeast, and fungi. Vyv’s technology has been rigorously tested by dozens of independent research organizations and proven effective at killing 90-99.99% of clinically relevant organisms on surfaces and in the air without harming surrounding materials or the people occupying the space. Installing Vyv’s antimicrobial light can add a high-value differentiator to your facility, reducing cleaning-related disruptions, mitigating the labor demands and potential for error inherent with many other disinfection tools, and providing a more reliable germ-killing solution, which has become increasingly critical against the backdrop of hospital acquired and surgical site infections.
Innovation
Vyv is the creator and global leader in the category of continuous use germicidal white light. As the creator, there is a responsibility to continually advance the science and corresponding use cases for the technology. Vyv invests significantly in validating the efficacy of visible light (400-420nm) at inactivating and killing organisms that are of concern globally for healthcare facilities and their patients and staff. Candida auris is an emerging fungus that presents a serious global health threat. The CDC cites concerns about C. auris for three main reasons: it is often multidrug-resistant; some strains are resistant to all three available classes of antifungals; it is difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods, and it can be misidentified in labs without specific technology which may lead to inappropriate management; it has caused outbreaks in healthcare settings. Vyv is conducting ongoing surface testing on Candida spp., following ASTM standards. Vyv will also evaluate prevention of growth. Depending on the dosage, Vyv testing thus far demonstrates between a 65% to 99% reduction for the organism.
The impact on microorganisms in air is as relevant as surfaces due to disease transmission in indoor environments. Vyv developed new air protocols for determining the efficacy of Vyv technology on air within indoor environments. Vyv’s lab utilized a novel aerosol chamber to conduct experiments in efforts to evaluate the potential impact of 405nm against S. epidermidis. Vyv’s UV-free antimicrobial lighting demonstrated a 97.27% (1.56 log) reduction of aerosolized S. epidermidis and a repeatable protocol is now established.
Future Direction
Vyv’s unmatched engineering and microbiology knowledge base uniquely enables Vyv to frequently support clients with custom designed solutions to accommodate areas where overhead lights may not work; referred to as embedded solutions. Embedded solutions work well for high utilization areas, high touch surfaces or hard to reach locations. Examples of potential embedded solutions within healthcare are continuously cleaned nursing stations (strip or tape lighting), germicidal task lighting or internally illuminated computer-on-wheels and IV poles, emergency service vehicle lighting, and many more. Additionally, Vyv delivers fully integrated OR ceiling solutions and laminar flow systems through partnerships with OEM’s delivering these offerings. Our offerings extend beyond our discrete LED technology. We are integrated partners, bringing unmatched expertise in microbiology, healthcare solutions and technology to help design bespoke, impactful solutions that are customizable to customer needs and challenges.