Gambro and Novalung, two leading companies in the field of extracorporeal organ support, are joining forces to introduce a new therapy to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Many ICU patients are critically ill and frequently depend on organ support, such as mechanical ventilation or continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). Gambro’s PrismaFlex is the world’s most widely used platform for all continuous renal replacement modalities as well as liver support. The partnership will integrate Novalung’s unique membrane gas exchange technology into the Prismaflex platform, adding CO2 removal to its therapeutic offering. Simple and reliable CO2 removal integrated in a well established blood purification platform is an unmet medical need in the ICU. It facilitates lung-protective ventilation, allowing a patient’s lungs to heal faster and reduce the length of stay in the ICU.
Guido Oelkers, President and CEO of Gambro, says, “Gambro and Novalung have a very powerful combination in terms of global scale, with Gambro’s leading intensive care blood therapy machine fleet, and Novalung’s unique competence in lung support therapies. Our business ambition is to further expand our therapy offer in the intensive care segment. Through our partnership with Novalung we will be able to offer hospitals and care providers multiple organ support alternatives utilizing the same machine base while also improving therapy options for patients with acute lung and kidney failure”.
Josef Bogenschütz, spokesman of Novalung’s Managing Board, says “Gambro and Novalung are the first companies to combine respiratory and renal organ support therapies. The world leading CRRT machine base of Gambro is ideal to link both parties’ vital organ support offerings in the ICU”.
Georg Matheis, Managing Director of Novalung, says, “We are pleased to partner with Gambro. Together we can enable an additional option for lung support by removal of blood-based carbon dioxide, which will reduce the complications induced by invasive mechanical ventilation. We believe this is a win-win situation for patients and caregivers alike.”
The companies are cooperating in late-stage development. First clinical applications are planned to commence by early 2013 and the product launch is aimed for second half 2013.
Source: Gambro
www.gambro.com
