AGM Statement

RNS Number : 9440K

Deltex Medical Group PLC

28 April 2010

 



Deltex Medical Group plc

Chairman's Statement to Annual General Meeting

28 April 2010 - Deltex Medical Group plc, the global leader in oesophageal Doppler monitoring ('ODM'), will today hold its Annual General Meeting. The following is the text of a statement that will be made at the meeting by the Company's chairman, Nigel Keen.

"In the year to date we have continued to make progress towards our goal of establishing the use of the CardioQ-ODMÔ as a global standard of care. Our strategy is designed both to support the adoption of CardioQ-ODM by individual doctors or clinical teams and to create circumstances that encourage the system-wide adoption of CardioQ-ODM

Sales in the first quarter of the year were ahead of the first quarter of 2009, driven by increases in both volumes of and revenues from probes in each of the UK, USA and International sales territories, as a growing number of doctors around the world adopt routine use of CardioQ-ODM into clinical practice.

The UK is our most developed market and has also become, in recent months, the market where some form of system-wide adoption of CardioQ-ODM is most likely in the short term. The publication in January of the National Technology Adoption Centre's 'How to Why to' guide on ODM demonstrated that CardioQ-ODM can be implemented effectively into routine use in NHS hospitals and deliver sufficient clinical and economic benefits to be material at NHS system level. This was most timely as the NHS's leadership is currently prioritising initiatives to improve the quality of care it provides in order to make more efficient use of its resources. We believe that CardioQ-ODM is well positioned to benefit from implementation of these initiatives.

In the UK we have implemented a programme of monitor placements into selected NHS hospitals which are looking to implement routine use of CardioQ-ODM during surgery. This programme allows us to continue to increase the installed base of monitors during a period when severe restrictions in capital equipment budgets are in place in most hospitals. As a result, we expect revenue growth in the UK, in the foreseeable future, to be driven by probe consumption.

We continue to make progress in a number of export markets. In the USA our largest single hospital is now consuming on average over 200 probes per month which equates to revenues of over $400,000 a year, we have also made substantial in-roads in a number of strategically important hospitals. Our distributors have reported success in tenders for a number of territories including Europe and the Middle-East. In Spain we continue to pursue two linked evaluation projects, one a clinician led enhanced recovery implementation project in which use of CardioQ-ODM is mandatory, the other an implementation study on CardioQ-ODM led by one of the Spanish Government Health Technology Assessment agencies.

The board looks forward to continued progress throughout the remainder of 2010 and beyond."

End

For further information, please contact:-

Deltex Medical Group plc                                01243 774 837

Nigel Keen, Chairman                                         [e-mail]

Ewan Phillips, Chief Executive                            [e-mail]

Paul Mitchell, Finance Director                            [e-mail]

Nominated Adviser & Broker

Arden Partners plc                                           020 7614 5900

Chris Hardie                                                      [e-mail]

Matthew Armitt                                                  [e-mail]

Kreab Gavin Anderson                                    020 7074 1800

Robert Speed                                                    [e-mail]

Deborah Walter                                                  [e-mail]

Notes for Editors

Deltex Medical manufactures and markets the CardioQ-ODMÔ system. CardioQ-ODM changes the way doctors care for surgical patients allowing them to recover faster and leave hospital sooner and in better health than they otherwise would do. The performance of the system has been validated through independently conducted, randomised controlled clinical trials and is being translated into routine clinical practice in leading hospitals around the world.

CardioQ-ODM comprises a monitor and a single patient disposable probe. The probe is placed into the oesophagus through either the mouth or nose and the tip positioned facing the adjacent descending aorta. A low frequency ultrasound signal, generated by the monitor, is bounced off the blood travelling down the aorta and the Doppler principle is used to determine the velocity of the blood flow, expressed in distance per cardiac cycle - 'Stroke Distance'. The monitor also calculates the amount of time that blood is flowing down the aorta as a proportion of a cardiac cycle - 'Flow Time'.

The monitor uses a validated proprietary nomogram to extrapolate volumetric data (Stroke Volume, Cardiac Output etc) from the directly measured flow velocity. The nomogram utilises the patient's age weight and height, effectively to estimate the size of the aorta in which the velocity of the flow is being measured. Crucially this means that any reported relative change in Stroke Volume is absolutely identical to the relative change in the directly measured flow velocity variable of Stroke Distance. CardioQ-ODM immediately and reliably identifies even very small changes in the blood flow velocity allowing doctors to intevene earlier and on smaller changes than with any other approach.

Intra-operative individualised Doppler guided fluid management entails insertion and focusing of the probe to obtain a baseline reading, giving a small (200 to 250 ml) fluid challenge directly into the vascular system and seeing if Stroke Volume (or Stroke Distance) increases by more than 10%. If the increase is more than 10%, repeat fluid boluses are administered until such time as the increase is less than 10%: after this no further fluid is given unless Stroke Volume falls by more than 10% - the process is designed to achieve and maintain the individual patient's optimal Stroke Volume. CardioQ-ODM is also used during surgery to guide administration of vaso-active agents such as inotropes.

The CardioQ-ODM helps patients by enabling doctors to reduce the complications that arise from a medical condition that is common to almost all patients having surgery and many others in intensive care or arriving in the accident and emergency department. This condition is known as hypovolaemia - a reduction in circulating blood volume - and in surgical patients arises as a direct consequence of the combined effects of pre-operative starvation, the anaesthetic agents and the blood and fluid losses associated with the surgical procedure itself. Hypovolaemia means that the body struggles to get sufficient blood to the tissues and vital organs which are consequently starved of essential oxygen. This can cause medical complications including peripheral and major organ failure, which if not dealt with quickly can lead to severe compromise or even death.

There are already nearly 2,000 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 200 clinical publications on the use of the CardioQ-ODM which have repeatedly:-

·    Validated the results of CardioQ-ODM against known standards for measuring cardiac output

·    Proved that CardioQ-ODM works in a wide range of surgical procedures

·    Proved that CardioQ-ODM delivers 50% or more reductions in post-operative complications and 25% or more reductions in length of hospital stay: better care at lower cost.

The SupraQÔis 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.

 

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