Today AGA Grants One Million SEK to Medical Research

TODAY AGA GRANTS ONE MILLION SEK TO MEDICAL RESEARCH In this year's presentation the AGA AB Medical Research Fund has awarded grants of SEK 10 million to research in the Nordic countries which is, or may become, significant for use of medical gases. AGA is thus one of the Nordic countries' foremost contributors to medical research. This year, the research grants will be shared by 15 Swedish, 4 Finnish and 2 Norwegian researchers, one of whom is Kristina Hambraeus Jonzon at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm. "My research is aimed at learning more about how nitrogen oxide, NO, affects the body. Today we know that the human body produces NO as a signal substance, a discovery that was honored with the Nobel Prize last year. But we need to know more about its mechanisms in order to better treat oxygen deficiency in various situations." For several years the Fund has supported research on NO, and has among other things contributed to development of a method using inhaled NO to treat newborns with serious lung diseases. AGA will seek approval of the method as a pharmaceutical this year. The presentation of grants will take place at the Eugenia Museum of Medical History at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm. The AGA AB Medical Research Fund was instituted by AGA in 1987 in cooperation with the Karolinska Institute. The amounts and appropriation of the grants are determined by an independent fund committee appointed by the Karolinska Institute and AGA. For further information please contact Maris Sedlenieks, Vice President Corporate Communications, phone +46 8 731 1050. Lidingö May 11, 1999 AGA Aktiebolag (publ) Corporate Communications ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/05/11/19990511BIT00240/bit0001.pdf http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/05/11/19990511BIT00240/bit0002.doc