Appointment of New Director

25 Apr 2005 07:00

LiDCO Group Plc25 April 2005 For immediate release 25 April 2005 LiDCO GROUP PLC ("LiDCO" or "the Company") Appointment of new Group Finance Director LiDCO Group plc, (AIM: LID) the UK-based cardiovascular monitoring company, ispleased to announce today the appointment of Hugh Jullian McGarel-Groves asGroup Finance Director and to the Board of the Company with effect from 10th May2005. Over the past12 years, Mr McGarel-Groves, aged 52, has held Finance Directorroles in the private healthcare sector at Hospital Corporation International,Medical Services International (Cromwell Hospital) and Nestor Healthcare (BNA).He started his career as a chartered accountant with KPMG in London, and thenheld senior finance positions at BP, Guinness and Sedgwick. His breadth ofexperience includes 4 years managing his own specialist engineering company. Mr McGarel-Groves is a director of Home Farm Services Ltd. No other details arerequired to be disclosed under paragraph F schedule 2 of the AIM Rules withrespect to Mr McGarel-Groves. As provided in his service agreement, the Company will grant Mr McGarel-Groves250,000 options under its share option scheme on the 10th May 2005, thecommencement date of his employment. Commenting on today's announcement, Dr Terry O'Brien, Chief Executive of LiDCOsaid: "I am delighted to welcome Hugh to the Board of LiDCO. Hugh has worked inboth large public international corporations and smaller private organisations.He has broad experience of both operational and corporate finance matters. Thiscombination of experiences coupled to his knowledge of healthcare, will beparticularly valuable as LiDCO moves into the next stage of its growth andcommercial development." Hugh McGarel-Groves said: "I am joining LiDCO at an exciting time for theCompany and I am impressed by the clinical strength of LiDCO's product, and bythe company's growing international distribution network and registrationportfolio." For further information please contact: LiDCO Group PlcTerry O'Brien (CEO) terry@lidco.com 020 7749 1500 Buchanan CommunicationsTim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson, James Strong 020 7466 5000 Notes for Editors About LiDCO Plc LiDCO is a UK-based AIM-traded developer, manufacturer and leading supplier ofminimally invasive, computer-based hemodynamic monitoring equipment anddisposables used primarily for the management of critical care andcardiovascular risk hospital patients. Use of LiDCO's technology has been shownto significantly reduce the complications (particularly infections) and costsassociated with major surgery The technology was invented in the Department ofApplied Physiology based at St Thomas' Hospital, London where the Companymaintains a research base. The Company's manufacturing facility is in Hoxton, London and its currentproducts are: • LiDCOplus and PulseCO monitors: computer-based platforms for displaying arange of real-time, continuous hemodynamic parameters including cardiac output,oxygen delivery and fluid volume; • LiDCO disposables: accurately determine cardiac output in aminimally-invasive manner. Distribution Network: The Company has achieved registration of its products in 13 markets in Europe,the USA and Japan. It sells direct to the NHS in the UK, and through aworldwide network of specialty critical care distributors. Background to the recently published clinical trial: Better than standard care -(EGDT) improves outcome in high risk surgery patients: The results of a major trial at St George's Hospital, London using LiDCO'sminimally invasive monitoring technology were presented during the 25thInternational Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine in Brussels(21st to 25th March). The results have revealed the following: a) Savings in the cost of treating patients amounting to an average of £4,000per patient. Extrapolated nationally, this would equate to a saving of £500million per annum for the NHS b) The monetary saving (£248,000) - resulted from 640 hospital days saved for 62patients, an average of more than 10 bed days per patient c) The savings in cost and time were associated with a significant reduction inmedical complications (particularly infections - which were halved) through theuse of LiDCO's minimally invasive technology to improve tissue oxygen levelsfollowing surgery. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange