Deltex Medical Regulatory News (DEMG)

30 Jun 2008 07:30



Deltex Medical Group plc

Founder's shares bequeathed to University College London research fund

30 June 2008 - Deltex Medical Group plc ("Deltex Medical" or "the Company"), the UK's leading haemodynamic monitoring company, announces that it has today been informed that the trustees and executors of the Pauline Thomas Medical Charitable Trust have transferred 589,700 ordinary shares of 1 p each to University College London (UCL) to fund medical research.

Pauline Thomas, who died aged 49 in 1996, was the founder and Chief Executive of Deltex Medical and was responsible for early commercialisation of prototypes of the oesophageal Doppler monitor developed by doctors now at UCL.

The trustees of the charitable trust set up after Pauline Thomas's death from a brain tumour include her mother and Nigel Keen, our Chairman. The trustees have agreed to donate (i.e. transfer for nil consideration) the remaining shares owned by the trust to UCL as an endowment to fund further research into oxygen delivery and uptake in critically ill patients. The transfer took place on 27 June 2008.

Under the terms of the endowment, UCL will be subject to a lock in agreement in respect of the holding of 589,700 shares for a period of five years from 27 June 2008. This condition will no longer apply should the share price exceed 100p and the lock in may be waived at the discretion of Nigel Keen. 

Nigel Keen has today notified the Company that his beneficial interests in shares in the Company remain unchanged at 3,665,414 ordinary shares of 1 p each representing 3.7% of the issued share capital and that he no longer has any non-beneficial interest in the shares previously held by the trust.

Professor Ed Byrne, Dean of the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences commented:

"I am delighted to hear of this generous gift of shares from The Pauline Thomas Medical Charitable Trust. This gift is a wonderful acknowledgement of the value and importance of the research on the mechanisms, monitoring and management of shock states. Adequate delivery of oxygen by the heart and lungs to the body's organs is a fundamental requirement for cellular metabolism.

"This donation contributes to maintaining UCL's reputation as a global centre of excellence in medical research. On behalf of my colleagues in the UCL Division of Medicine, please accept my sincere gratitude."

Nigel Keen, Deltex Medical's chairman commented:

"It is very fitting that UCL should benefit from Pauline Thomas's legacy. The research work being undertaken at UCL into oxygen uptake by the tissues at times of acute illness makes it a very real possibility that Pauline's life work will be associated with not one, but two, groundbreaking medical technologies."

For further information, please contact:-

Deltex Medical Group plc 01243 774 837

Nigel Keen, Chairman  njk@deltexmedical.com

Andy Hill, Chief Executive ahill@deltexmedical.com

Ewan Phillips, Finance Director eap@deltexmedical.com 

Gavin Anderson & Company 0207 554 1400

Deborah Walter dwalter@gavinanderson.co.uk

Robert Speed rspeed@gavinanderson.co.uk

Charles Stanley Securities 020 7149 6000

(Nominated Adviser)

Philip Davies philip.davies@csysecurities.com 

Russell Cook russell.cook@csysecurities.com 

  Notes for Editors

Deltex Medical manufactures and markets the CardioQ-ODM™ monitor, which uses disposable ultra-sound probes inserted into the oesophagus to determine the amount of blood being pumped around the body - 'circulating blood volume'. Reduced circulating blood volume is known as hypovolaemia, which leads to insufficient oxygen being delivered to the organs. This causes medical complications including peripheral and major organ failure which can lead to death. Hypovolaemia, which is akin to severe dehydration, affects virtually every patient having surgery because of the combined effects of pre-operative starvation, the impact of the anaesthetic agents and trauma from the surgery itself. Using fluids and drugs, guided by the CardioQ-ODM, to optimise the amount of circulating blood significantly reduces post-operative complications allowing patients to make a faster, more complete recovery and return home earlier.

The CardioQ-ODM incorporates the Company's proprietary software and a small diameter, easy-to-use, minimally invasive, disposable oesophageal probe that is used for transmitting and receiving an ultra-sound signal. By using this technology, the CardioQ-ODM provides clinicians with the ability to haemodynamically optimise critically ill patients and those undergoing routine moderate to major surgery through the controlled administration of fluid and drugs. Haemodynamic optimisation has been scientifically proven to improve the speed and quality of patient recovery and reduce hospital stay.

There are already over 1,500 CardioQ-ODMs currently in use in hospitals worldwide and distribution arrangements are in place in over 30 countries. In addition, there are currently more than 100 clinical publications on the use of the CardioQ-ODM which have repeatedly:-

Validated the results of the Monitor against known standards for measuring cardiac output, demonstrating that the technology works

Proved that the CardioQ-ODM 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.

The SupraQ™ is an entirely non-invasive device which uses an ultrasound probe held at the base of the patient's neck to track the flow of blood in the aorta; it presents the same data as the CardioQ-ODM in a similar format and is used for taking snapshots or monitoring over short periods.