Company and Group news releases

14/02/01

Medical House PLC 14 February 2001


THE MEDICAL HOUSE PLC Hyperlyser to begin pre-clinical trials


Hyperlyser update The Medical House PLC ("TMH"), the medical equipment and information services company, is pleased to announce that the Hyperlyser, a diagnostic aid in detecting helicobacter pylori, has reached the prototype stage ahead of schedule and is to begin pre- clinical trials at the University of the West of England, Bristol. It is expected to proceed to full clinical trials later this year.


Helicobacter pylori is a bacteria responsible for several common gastric complaints, such as peptic ulcers, recurrent indigestion and heartburn. The "Hyperlyser", designed to detect these conditions by measuring levels of ammonia in patients' breath, should significantly reduce the time taken for, the cost of and patients' discomfort during diagnosis. Conventional diagnosis is typically by endoscopy and other expensive or invasive tests, which must be carried out in specialist centres. The Hyperlyser will be similar to a breathalyser and should provide diagnosis in a matter of minutes and be capable of use in a clinic or even at home.


The major markets in the world for the Hyperlyser are the USA, EU and Japan, which have a combined population of approximately 683 million, of which 30 - 40% are estimated to be infected with Helicobacter pylori (Bonney 1997).


TMH acquired the rights for the Hyperlyser for #1.4 million from Medisys in September last year. At that time Medysis acquired a 6% stake in TMH.
Creative Medical Design ("CMD")


The Hyperlyser is being developed by Creative Medical Design ("CMD"), a TMH group company which specialises in the design of medical devices and the manufacture of prototypes.


The Directors of TMH believe that, since its formation twelve months ago, CMD has risen to be a leading force in medical device development. CMD's technology significantly reduces the time and cost of developing new medical products by removing the need for production machinery during the manufacture of prototype new medical instruments. CMD owns state of the art CAD CAM Unigraphics software and a Rapid Prototyping machine, 1 of only 4 in industry in this country, which is capable of producing prototypes overnight from programmes downloaded from the CAD CAM system. Ownership of this technology places the Group in the forefront of medical devices development, and is one of the major reasons that the Hyperlyser project is progressing ahead of schedule.


Ian Townsend, Chief Executive, said
"We are delighted with the Hyperlyser's progress and we look forward to full clinical trials taking place in the third quarter of this year.


"CMD is now a technology leader in the development of medical devices. We intend to use its skills and expertise to develop several projects, principally medical devices similar to the Hyperlyser, success in any one of which could reap substantial rewards to the Group. TMH intends to become a significant player in the medical devices market".


For further information

The Medical House PLC 0114 261 9011 Ian Townsend, Chief Executive

Square Mile Communications Nick Oborne/Susanne Walker 020 7601 1000

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