Aerocrine enters collaboration for improved treatment of asthma and intestinal diseases

SOLNA – 15 October, 2007 – Aerocrine AB (OMX Nordic Exchange: AERO) announces that it has become a partner in a program for the development of diagnostic methods for allergies, asthma and food hypersensitivity.

The purpose of the research program is to develop simple diagnostic methods for allergies, asthma and food hypersensitivity for use in specialist and primary healthcare. The objective of the program is to develop and clinically assess equipment to measure inflammation in the peripheral airways by means of exhaled air, and equipment to ascertain the type and degree of intestinal inflammation by means of rectal gas and fluid samples. Efforts will also seek to enable the measurement of various types of antibodies and other inflammation indicators in blood, saliva and intestinal secretions. With its new product NIOX® Flex, Aerocrine also advances the possibility of determining which area of the airways is inflamed. This can be of great importance for selecting treatment in patients with asthma.

Partners in the program are Phadia AB, Aerocrine AB, Alimenta Medical AB, Uppsala University, as well as Uppsala University Hospital. VINNOVA (Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems) sponsors the project by covering half of its costs, while the industrial partners are responsible for the remainder.

Combined, inflammatory diseases account for a significant proportion of healthcare costs and lost production in society. These diseases also cause extensive human suffering and impaired quality of life. In addition, certain inflammatory diseases have increased markedly over recent decades, including asthma and celiac disease. In many cases, effective medical treatments are available, not least for asthma, and the correct elimination diet can result in a total lack of symptoms from food hypersensitivity. However, the lack of simple and reliable measurement methods limits diagnosis and treatment monitoring.