Amferia wins Red Dot Award for Innovative Design addressing bacterial infections and antibiotic resistance
Swedish medtech company Amferia has been awarded the Red Dot Award for its elevator pitch logotype in the Brand & Communication Design category. The new logo describes the company’s innovation and purpose in three words: Amferia kills bacteria.
”The award highlights our commitment to addressing bacterial infections and antibiotic resistance. Amferia’s innovation contributes to the solution, but we also have to communicate that in an innovative way to reach a global audience.” says Anand Rajasekharan, CEO and co-founder of Amferia.
The Red Dot Award, established in 1955, honours outstanding achievements in product design, communication, and design concepts. The Brand & Communication Design category honors products and services demonstrating design excellence in areas such as communication, branding, advertising, and packaging.
"Our design philosophy effectively communicates our mission and, at the same time makes the public aware of a growing global problem. Bacterial infections are likely to surpass cancer and heart disease as the number one cause of human deaths in the future, largely due to increasing bacterial resistance to commonly used antibiotics”, says Anand Rajasekharan.
Amferia’s technology enables for the first time the safe and stable use of antimicrobial peptides, allowing them to kill bacteria—even resistant strains—without harming the surrounding body cells.
“We are essentially mimicking the body’s own immune system to fight infections in wounds to reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics," says Anand Rajasekharan
To add a sense of urgency to the logo, we chose a red dot as a symbol. It’s widely recognised as a stop symbol signal and also reminds physicians and surgeons about round microscopic photos of dead bacteria. For them, the red colour indicates dead bacteria”, says Anders Eklind, Amferia’s art director.
Amferia kills bacteria – the technology
Antimicrobial peptides are known for their ability to kill bacteria due to their positive electrostatic charge, which attracts the negatively charged bacteria. This allows peptides to puncture bacterial membranes and destroy the cells. However, their fragility in biological environments has been a major challenge to developing peptides as a viable treatment—naturally occurring enzymes in the human body can destroy them within seconds.
Amferia's patented hydrogel platform addresses this challenge for the first time by encasing the peptides in a solid protective gel. This design shields the vulnerable facets of peptides from natural enzymes while allowing their bacteria-killing structures to remain exposed and active. The hydrogel is then applied to wounds with topical dressings, meaning it is a medical device, which reduces the time for clinical studies.
Amferia design team – Red Dot:
Account managers: Anand Rajasekharan, Saba Atefyekta
Design: Anders Eklind, Björn Engström, Jonas Cederolm
Read more about the award here
For additional information contact:
Anand Rajasekharan, CEO and co-founder of Amferia
+46 76 298 12 38
anandk@amferia.com
About Amferia
Amferia's antimicrobial amphiphilic hydrogel kills bacteria, even resistant bacteria without harming the body. The material was developed through several years of research in collaboration with Chalmers University of Technology and. Amferia's innovative, anti-microbial solution can be used on wide-ranging wounds from simple skin injuries to post-operative wounds, chronic wounds, and trauma and burn wounds. The first product from this technology platform is a wound-care dressing for dry-to-low exuding wounds. Amferia has ongoing clinical investigations in Europe and is seeking CE marking and FDA clearance for human application.
Read more about the products, team, technology and publications at www.amferia.com
About Red Dot Design Award
The origins of the Red Dot Design Award date back to 1955. Its distinction, the Red Dot, is established internationally as one of the most sought-after quality marks for good design. From products, brand communication and creative projects to design concepts and prototypes, the Red Dot Award documents the most prominent trends worldwide. The award-winning designs are showcased in exhibitions around the globe and in the Red Dot Design Museums in Essen, Singapore and Xiamen as well as in yearbooks and online.
