Our Team Hello! We are Team BioShield — a diverse team from Life Sciences, Business and Medicine. Our product, BioShield Pro (BPro), is founded on 24 months of lab-based research and 3 months of trials in a real clinical setting. We are mentored by researchers from NUS Civil and Environmental Engineering and NUS Microbiology and Immunology. Our team is also collaborating with doctors from the National University Hospital, and the NUS Technology Transfer and Innovation Office for the development of our product patent.

Why Hospital Sinks? The rapid emergence of multidrug-resistant superbugs is a global health threat. By 2050, superbugs are expected to cause 10 million deaths annually, an increase from 1.27 million in 2019, while incurring productivity losses of up to $100 trillion. Particularly, handwashing sinks are a significant superbug incubator, harbouring biofilms – collections of adherent bacterial cells. Biofilms enable pathogenic bacteria to withstand hostile environments and promote inter-transmission of antibiotic resistance genes. Blood and milk creates a nutrient-rich breeding ground, while improperly discarding antibiotics and patient specimens down sinks can accelerate superbug formation. Water impact in colonised sinks infect patients via droplet-mediated dispersal. These outbreaks most frequently affect immunocompromised patients in intensive care units (ICUs), where drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii have been traced to nearby sinks.

Fluorescent staining of bacterial spread from a contaminated hospital sink

Meet BioShield Pro Meet BPro, our groundbreaking device that prevents biofilm formation. Our innovative low-voltage electrode system delivers a powerful antibacterial effect in sink traps. This novel technology has passed the first phase of patenting with the NUS Technology Transfer Office (TTI Ref: 2024-276). In our 3-month trial in a paediatric clinic, it removed over 90% of biofilm and proved 40x more power-efficient than UVC, while posing minimal electrical and fire risks. It removes the need for frequent sink trap replacement and the discharge of strong disinfectants down the sinks, which are existing cleaning protocols adopted by several hospitals. Designed for mass production, each unit of BPro only requires minor modifications to existing sink traps.

What’s Next? We hope to grow BPro even beyond MGC, and are embarking on the next crucial steps for its development. Firstly, our team is collaborating with NUH for larger-scale hospital installations, to obtain rigorous clinical data. We will also work with an engineering team from an external company, as well as an engineering student from the University of Oxford, to refine BPro’s design, making it user-friendly and ready to spring onto a blue ocean market. These preparations are timed for the next 12 month milestone in the patenting process, where we will file with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.