Covalon Technologies Ltd. announced that its MediClearTM PreOp product has been recognized by both the medical device industry and by key clinicians as an important innovation in the fight to prevent surgical site infections. Surgical site infections are among the costliest of healthcare-associated infections and are the second most common in the US.1, 2, 3 SSIs can lead to prolonged patient suffering, extended hospitalizations, and, in some cases, patient death. SSIs cost the healthcare industry billions of dollars each year, much of which is no longer reimbursable through medical insurance providers in the United States. MediClear PreOp, the only dual antimicrobial pre-surgical film barrier, was designed to help hospitals reduce infections by protecting surgical sites on patients before a surgical procedure. MediClear PreOp reduces the level of pathogens on the patient's skin while protecting the surgical site from exposure to bacteria found within the hospital environment. Covalon surveyed dozens of clinical Key Opinion Leaders at last month's American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons Annual Conference in Las Vegas,NE, with attendees including industry leaders in orthopedic surgery and key decision makers from healthcare institutions across the United States. The results of the surveys indicated that there was no consistent protocol or method of protecting patients from exposure to hospital-borne bacteria from the pre-surgical admitting process up to their entrance into the sterile operating room. Many of the Key Opinion Leaders surveyed recognized the value of using MediClear PreOp in conjunction with their current infection prevention protocols to better protect patients in the hospital prior to surgery. Covalon will further validate the need for MediClear PreOp at the Association of periOperative Nurses Global Surgical Conference & Expo ("AORN") from April 6-10 at the Music City Centre in Nashville, TN. AORN will bring together 10,000 perioperative nurses and exhibitors for five days of learning. Since Covalon's launch of this innovative product, the medical technology industry has recognized MediClear PreOp as an innovative presurgical protocol with a number of awards. MediClear PreOp was the recipient of the 2018 New Product Innovation Award for Surgical Site Infection Prevention by Frost & Sullivan and was awarded the 2018 Silver Award by Medical Design Excellence Awards in the Over-the-Counter Category. MediClear PreOp is based on Covalon's proprietary antimicrobial silicone adhesive technology and harnesses the synergistic effects of silver and chlorhexidine, killing 99.99% of microorganisms associated with SSIs on patients' skin within 30 minutes of application and suppressing regrowth until surgery. Clinical evidence of well-known antimicrobial agents, such as chlorhexidine, in washes and wipes has shown that they are effective at reducing the levels of bacteria on a patient's skin pre-operatively and subsequently decreasing the incidence of SSIs when utilized correctly.