Clinical study shows that the STEEN Solution™ method can increase the number of available lungs for transplantation.

The results of the HELP (Human ex vivo Lung Perfusion) study on STEEN Solution™ show that transplantation with ex vivo evaluated lungs was at least as good as in the control group. This conclusion was presented during the ISHLT congress in Chicago in April.

The results after transplantations using ex vivo evaluated lungs were at least as good as in the control group according to Dr. Marcello Cypel, who was responsible for the study. This is remarkable, as 19 of the 22 evaluated lungs before ex vivo evaluation were assessed to be of inferior quality to those in the control group. The study thereby shows that by using ex vivo evaluation of lungs the number of lung transplantations can be increased without the risk of complications increasing in the patient. In all the study comprises 22 lung transplant patients in the group with ex vivo evaluated lungs. The other 136 lung transplant patients who received transplantations using conventional methods in Toronto during the study period constituted a control group. The results from the Canadian HELP study on ex vivo evaluation of lungs using STEEN Solution™ were presented during the ISHLT international lung and heart transplantation congress in April. The study will be published in a scientific journal within a few months. Using the STEEN Solution™ evaluation method, the number of available organs that can be transplanted increases considerably as less than 20 percent of the lungs that have been donated are transplanted, for example in the USA, due to uncertainty regarding the organ’s function. In time the STEEN Solution™ method can lead to the number of lung transplantations carried out increasing five- to ten-fold, as the method also allows other types of donors to be used. The demand for donated organs for transplantation today considerably exceeds supply. May 19, 2010 Gothenburg, Sweden Magnus Nilsson, CEO Queries should be addressed to: Magnus Nilsson, CEO, phone +46 31 721 80 61 Eva Nilsagård, CFO, phone +46 31 721 80 13