STEEN Solution™ approved for sales in Australia

Vitrolife has obtained sales approval in Australia for STEEN Solution™, a solution for functional testing and preservation of lungs outside the body before transplantation.
“It is a great success for Vitrolife that this unique product has now been approved by the Australian authorities,” says Magnus Nilsson, CEO of Vitrolife.

Vitrolife’s product STEEN Solution™ is part of a new method for functional testing and preservation of lungs outside the body. The technology makes it possible for the first time to test the function of donated lungs outside the body by pumping STEEN Solution™ into the organ’s system of vessels before possible use.

With the STEEN Solution™ method, the number of potential organs that can be transplanted increases considerably. In the USA, for example, less than 20 percent of the lungs donated are transplanted today, due to uncertainty about the function of the organ. In time the STEEN Solution™ method can lead to a fivefold to tenfold increase in the number of lung transplantations carried out, as the need for donated organs using today’s methods considerably exceeds supply. So far 8 transplantations have been performed using this method, all at the University Hospital of Lund.

Vitrolife is today the market leader within the area of lung preservation solutions with its product Perfadex® and more than 90 percent of all lung transplantations in the world are performed using this product. Together with STEEN Solution™, Perfadex® is also part of the new method for functional testing and preservation of lungs outside the body.

STEEN Solution™ has already been approved for sales in Europe. The patent has so far been approved in Australia and the USA. During 2007 work was done to develop peripheral equipment, such as a box for storage of the lung in order to further facilitate the method using STEEN Solution™, as well as education and training of a large number of clinics in Europe and the USA. Work has also been ongoing on the study in North America which will form the basis of sales approval for STEEN Solution™ in the USA, a study that it is estimated will begin shortly.



June 18, 2008
Kungsbacka, Sweden

Magnus Nilsson
CEO



Queries should be addressed to:
Magnus Nilsson, CEO, phone +46 31 721 80 00 or +46 708 22 80 61.
Anna Ahlberg, CFO, phone +46 31 721 80 13 or +46 708 22 80 13.