Deltex Medical Regulatory News (DEMG)

3 May 2006 12:33

Deltex Medical Group PLC03 May 2006 Deltex Medical Group plc ('Deltex Medical' / 'Company') Results of Annual General Meeting/Trading Update Placing of 2,400,000 New Ordinary shares at 20p per share 3 May 2006: Deltex Medical Group plc ('Deltex Medical' or the 'Company'), theAIM listed haemodynamic monitoring company today held its Annual GeneralMeeting. All resolutions put to shareholders at the meeting were passed. Thefollowing is the text of a statement made at the meeting by the Company'schairman, Nigel Keen. "Progress in the first four months of 2006 indicates that Deltex Medical iscontinuing to establish haemodynamic optimisation, using its CardioQTM bloodflow monitor, as a standard of care for patients undergoing moderate and majorsurgery and for those in intensive care. In our largest market, the UK, sales of our single patient disposable probeshave continued to grow. April was the eighteenth consecutive month when thevalue of probe sales exceeded that in the corresponding month twelve monthsearlier. UK probe sales in March were the highest ever achieved in a singlemonth; previously the Company had achieved all time record months in bothDecember 2005 and August 2005. This growth reflects increased routine usage in both operating theatres and inintensive care units. In operating theatres the CardioQ is the onlyhaemodynamic monitoring system proven in repeated, randomised, controlled trialsto reduce complications associated with major surgery and shorten length ofhospital stay. In intensive care units the CardioQ's unique ability to identifychanges in intravascular blood flow as soon as they happen has maintained itsposition as the UK's monitor of choice. Our continuing solid growth in the UK has been achieved despite the UK NHS'sfinancing difficulties. As hospitals start to look for new ways to reduce costswhile improving quality of care, the CardioQ's proven ability to both save livesand save money is making it an ever more attractive use of scarce funds. Todate we have sold 24 CardioQ monitors to NHS hospitals, compared to 34 in thewhole of 2005. While it is too early to tell if this marks a change in trend,it is particularly encouraging that five hospitals have so far this year eachbought three or four CardioQ monitors and are in the process of implementing theCardioQ as a standard of care. In Europe we have been working with our distributor partners to reduce the 'peaks and troughs' invariably associated with half-yearly or yearly ordering byencouraging them to reduce stock holding and move to regular monthly standingorders. This process, which will help us with production planning andmanufacturing efficiency, has been welcomed by our distributors and the firstphase should be completed by the end of the first half of the year. The Company will release the first of its DP-series of disposable probes in theUSA in July of this year, following notification of approval by the USregulatory body, the FDA. The DP series of probes can be placed nasally as wellas orally, allowing patients who previously could not be monitored, because ofrestricted oral access to benefit from the use of the CardioQ. This is a keyfirst step in the process of making our entire probe range available tophysicians in the US and this is the first new Deltex Medical probe to beapproved by the FDA since 1995. In February we announced the acquisition of the TECO oesophageal Doppler monitorbusiness from Medicina Limited. This acquisition will allow us to integrate thebest features of the TECO system into the next generation of CardioQ monitorsand further strengthen our intellectual property portfolio. We have alreadybegun the process of converting the existing TECO installed base to CardioQs,further consolidating our position in the growing market for haemodynamicoptimisation. We have recently learned that the trial undertaken at the Freeman Hospital inNewcastle into the use of the CardioQ in patients undergoing major bowel surgeryhas been accepted for publication in the British Journal of Surgery in Septemberof this year. We expect this publication to increase substantially levels ofinterest in the surgical community. We expect the results of this study tosupport further the concept that hospitals and surgical teams that use theCardioQ as a standard of care deliver the lowest mortality rates, the lowestreadmission rates and the shortest lengths of hospital stay achieved amongsttheir peers. Today we announced that we had raised a further £480,000 before expenses in newequity capital through the placing of 2,400,000 new ordinary shares of 1p eachat 20p per share. Application will be made for the new shares to be traded onAIM and it is expected that dealings will commence on 9 May 2006. Following theissue of these new shares the Company has a total of 76,549,216 ordinary sharesin issue. This capital will be used to fund the expansion of our sales presencein Europe and allow us to take up an opportunity that has recently emerged tosell directly to our customers in Switzerland and Spain. This move will give usgreater control over the delivery of our sales message and clinical training inthese territories and will enable us to refine further our marketing approach,based on achievements to date in our home market. Our monthly cash burn coming into 2006 was the lowest in the Company's history.This downward trend has continued in the first quarter of 2006 and the Board islooking forward to moving to profitability." For further information, please contact:- Deltex Medical Group plc01243 774 837Nigel Keen, ChairmanAndy Hill, Chief ExecutiveEwan Phillips, Finance Director Financial Dynamics0207 831 3113David YatesJohn Gilbert Notes for Editors Deltex Medical manufactures and markets the CardioQ monitor, which usesdisposable ultra-sound probes inserted into the oesophagus to determine theamount of blood being pumped around the body - 'circulating blood volume'.Reduced circulating blood volume is known as hypovolaemia, which leads toinsufficient oxygen being delivered to the organs. This causes medicalcomplications including peripheral and major organ failure which can lead todeath. Hypovolaemia, which is akin to severe dehydration, affects virtuallyevery patient having surgery because of the combined effects of pre-operativestarvation, the impact of the anaesthetic agents and trauma from the surgeryitself. Using fluids and drugs, guided by the CardioQ, to optimise the amountof circulating blood significantly reduces post-operative complications allowingpatients to make a faster, more complete recovery and return home earlier. The CardioQ incorporates the Company's proprietary software and a smalldiameter, easy-to-use, minimally invasive, disposable oesophageal probe that isused for transmitting and receiving an ultra-sound signal. By using thistechnology, the CardioQ provides clinicians with the ability to haemodynamicallyoptimise critically ill patients and those undergoing routine moderate to majorsurgery through the controlled administration of fluid and drugs. Haemodynamicoptimisation has been scientifically proven to improve the speed and quality ofpatient recovery and reduce hospital stay. There are already over 1,250 CardioQs currently in use in hospitals worldwideand distribution arrangements are in place in over 30 countries. In addition,there are currently more than 90 clinical publications on the use of the CardioQwhich have repeatedly:- • validated the results of the Monitor against known standards for measuring cardiac output, demonstrating that the technology works • proved that the CardioQ works in a wide range of surgical procedures • demonstrated that the Company's technology provides significant health and economic benefits by helping to reduce post-operative complications and length of hospital stays by an average of 30 to 40 per cent for a wide range of patients. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange