LAUSANNE, Switzerland, November 29, 2004 – Debiotech S.A. today announced its collaborative alliance with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), in Lausanne, Switzerland, regarding an innovative mathematical optimization program to improve Peritoneal Dialysis.

This development program is headed by Pr. Alfio Quarteroni, Chair of Modeling and Scientific Computing at EPFL, under the coordination of Dr. Paolo Zunino and the assistance of Mr. Diego Mastalli. This program, which has been initiated in 2001, is part of a joint program partially funded by the CTI/KTI and the Medtech initiative established by Pr. Gilberto Bestetti.
The clinical coordination is headed by Pr. Jean Pierre Wauters, Inselspital Bern, with the active expertise and support of Pr. Norbert Lameire and Pr. Win Van Biesen, University Hospital Ghent, Belgium and the contribution of Pr Alfonso Pacciti, Molinette Hospital Torino, Italy.

“This development is certainly one of the most exciting scientific work targeted at improving medical therapy by use of mathematical optimization algorithms”, said Frédéric Neftel, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Debiotech S.A. “It is fantastic to believe that this program is aimed at improving the efficiency of a medical therapy by direct use of mathematical optimization programs, applying specific patient dedicated treatment regimens based on the patient’s own specific characteristics. The mathematical model under development will be able to provide novel fluid exchange recommendations, with variable cycle times and volumes, aimed at improving the way Peritoneal Dialysis is performed today. We are also extremely proud to work with Pr. Alfio Quarteroni, who is one of the world leading Applied Mathematicians, and his outstanding team of mathematicians at the EPFL who have also contributed to many other successful projects, from the design of the latest winner of the America’s Cup to the swimsuits of the latest Gold medal winners of the Olympic Games in Athens. We hope this program will contribute to the already worldwide reputation of the Swiss Federal Technology Institute, in Lausanne, who has already generated significant breakthroughs in the biomedical field and is continuing to attract world leading Scientists from all over the world.”

“This project provides a remarkable example of the impact that mathematics can have in Life Sciences in our days” says Pr. Alfio Quarteroni, Chair of Modeling and Scientific Computing at EPFL. “The model that we have developed moves from a brilliant intuition of Debiotech and associated clinicians about the possibility of improving radically the efficacy of peritoneal dialysis therapy by the help of a rigorous mathematical approach. We have devised a flexible adaptive optimization environment that not only can implement state of the art clinical knowledge on peritoneal dialysis, but is ready to incorporate in a straightforward manner novel scientific achievements. The interplay with the Clinicians of Bern, Gent and Turin, and the team of Engineers from Debiotech has been of paramount importance for the development and improvement of our model.”

Professor Jean Pierre Wauters, from the University Hospital in Bern, Switzerland, added: "For patients suffering from advanced kidney failure, peritoneal dialysis performed at home provides a form of therapy that, in most instances, interferes less with daily activities than centre hemodialysis. However, so far its widespread use is hampered by patient burden observed at long-term in some patients groups. With the new mathematical model conceived by Prof Quarteroni 's team and the associated software progress, peritoneal dialysis could become more practical and hopefully more efficient at long term. It should allow a tailoring of the therapy to the individual patient and his medical needs even on a daily basis, and should therefore become more appealing to both patients and nephrologists. The present development is an illustration of the great achievements that can be reached by transdisciplinary teams."

“The development program is focusing on Peritoneal Dialysis and is contemplating novel treatment regimens with dynamic exchange profiles (DEPD: “Dynamic Exchange Peritoneal Dialysis”). More precisely, based on iterative numerical techniques, a new mathematical model and computer simulation environment has been elaborated to investigate and predict the kinetics of individual injection-extraction patterns, hence providing an optimization tool for the different PD techniques and facilitating the use of more elaborated therapeutic options. This approach could help by adding more flexibility to peritoneal dialysis prescription and is aimed to enhance the removal of toxins” says Dr. Paolo Zunino, head of the algorithmic development team.

This novel approach is protected by a patents, of which one has already been granted in the USA and several are pending in major countries worldwide.

Debiotech is also developing a novel medical miniaturized instrument for Home Peritoneal Dialysis, which may benefit in the future from such mathematical optimization program and which is already subject to exclusive license agreements.

About ESRD (End-Stage Renal Disease) and Treatments

ESRD is an advanced stage of chronic kidney disease that requires some form of therapy to replace lost renal function. The incidence and prevalence of ESRD have doubled in the past 10 years and are expected to continue to grow. Worldwide, approximately 1.5 million patients are being treated for ESRD. Two forms of dialysis are most commonly available to ESRD patients: peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD).

In PD, extra fluids and waste are removed from the blood inside the body, using the body’s own peritoneal membrane, or abdominal lining, as a natural filter. In this form of dialysis, blood never leaves the body. Dialysis fluid enters the peritoneal cavity through a flexible catheter surgically inserted in the abdomen. Extra fluid and waste travel across the peritoneal membrane into the dialysis fluid, which is then drained from the abdomen through the catheter after a pre-determined dwell period. Present exchange profiles are usually constant and independent of patient characteristics. Most of the exchanges are done overnight to improve patient comfort.

About Debiotech S.A.

Debiotech S.A. specializes in the research and development of innovative medical devices in the field of drug delivery systems, drug eluting stents, electronic infusion systems, dialysis, diagnostics and imaging devices, implantable drug delivery systems and micro-systems for insulin and peptide drug delivery. www.debiotech.com. Debiotech has numerous exclusive collaboration agreements with leading companies in the medical device and pharmaceutical fields and has recently announced a first spin-off company active in selling and distributing advanced contrast media delivery systems for medical imaging (Swiss Medical Care SA: www.swissmedcare.com ).

About the Swiss Federal Technology Institute (EPFL )

The EPFL was founded as an engineering school 150 years ago, and became a Federal University in 1969. Today, it is one of the two leading scientific and technological universities in Switzerland fostering innovative business creation and technology transfer initiatives. The EPFL has a long experience in numerical simulation for scientific and engineering applications, in areas ranging from turbines to plasma physics and fusion, atomistic and molecular simulations to atmospheric pollution modelling, and automotive simulations to aeronautics. Collaboration with the industrial, economic and scientific environments is a long-standing tradition at the EPFL. From the first computer mouse to methods for decoding DNA a thousand times faster, the EPFL is a unique place of innovation and competence in Europe.

Contact:

Debiotech SA
Avenue de Sevelin, 28
CH-1004 Lausanne, Switzerland
Phone: +41-21-623-60-00
Fax: +41-21-623-60-01
email:

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