University of Queensland (UQ) start-up and now ASX-listed company, ImpediMed Limited (ASX:IPD), has been internationally recognised for having made “the biggest difference on an individual while addressing the greatest medical need”.
San Diego-based BIOCOM, the largest regional life science association in the world, recently presented ImpediMed with a “Life Changing Technology” award at its 6th Annual Medical Device & Diagnostics Expo.
The bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) technology underpinning ImpediMed’s L-DexTM U400 limb application for lymphoedema* was developed by UQ’s Dr Leigh Ward and Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Dr Brian Thomas and Dr Bruce Cornish
UQ’s main commercialisation company, UniQuest, patented the BIA technology in 1999.
UniQuest Managing Director David Henderson said the award highlighted the impact of Australian research on cancer patient care around the world.
“We congratulate ImpediMed and the researchers on receiving such an important accolade,” Mr Henderson said.
"It’s a significant endorsement of Australian university-based innovation to have a panel of judges representing global companies like Johnson & Johnson and Sharp Healthcare acknowledge ImpediMed in this way.
“ImpediMed is a Queensland success story, and UniQuest is proud to have been involved at the start of its commercialisation journey from concept to clinical setting.”
Key milestones for ImpediMed:
• UniQuest founded ImpediMed Limited in 2000 with an initial investor, Parma Corporation, run by Mel and Lucille Bridges.
• In 2004 ImpediMed received a $250,000 Biotechnology Innovation Fund grant from the Australian federal government.
• Following ImpediMed’s successful receipt of a unique US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its primary product Imp XCA in 2006, the company released a prospectus to raise $18 million to fund the launch of its biomedical devices in the US and Europe. The share offer closed oversubscribed, and the company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange on 24 October 2007.
• Later in 2007, ImpediMed launched the XCA for use in the clinical assessment of lymphoedema among breast cancer survivors.
• The FDA awarded clearance to ImpediMed’s L-DexTM U400 in 2008 aid in the clinical assessment of unilateral lymphoedema of the arm in female breast cancer patients.
• In 2010, when the American Medical Association announced a unique Category III CPT code for the use of Bioimpedance Spectroscopy (BIS) in the assessment of lymphoedema in both arms and legs, ImpediMed became the first company to offer FDA, CE and TGA cleared L-Dex devices for simple point of care, standardised and objective metrics to aid in the clinical assessment of lymphoedema.
• By 2012 insurance reimbursement cover for the L-DexTM U400 had expanded to 23.4 million people in the US.
* persistent local tissue swelling resulting from lymph vessels blocked by cancer or removed in the course of cancer surgery.
Media enquiries:
Leanne Wyvill +61 7 3365 4037, +61 409 767 199 or l.wyvill@uniquest.com.au
Links: http://impedimed.com.au/investor-relations/media-kit https://www.uniquest.com.au/portfolio/impedimed-ltd
About ImpediMed www.impedimed.com.au
ImpediMed Limited is the world leader in the development and distribution of medical devices employing Bioimpedance Spectroscopy (BIS) technologies for use in the non-invasive clinical assessment and monitoring of fluid status. ImpediMed’s primary product range consists of a number of medical devices that aid surgeons, oncologists, therapists and radiation oncologists in the clinical assessment of patients for the potential onset of secondary lymphoedema. Pre-operative clinical assessment in cancer survivors, before the onset of symptoms, may prevent the condition from becoming a lifelong management issue and thus improve the quality of life of the cancer survivor. ImpediMed has the first medical device with an FDA clearance in the United States to aid health care professionals clinically assess secondary unilateral lymphoedema of the arm and leg in women and the leg in men.
About UniQuest Pty Limited www.uniquest.com.au
Established by The University of Queensland in 1984, UniQuest is widely recognised as one of Australia’s largest and most successful university commercialisation groups, benchmarking in the top tier of technology transfer worldwide. From an intellectual property portfolio of 1,500+ patents it has created over 70 companies, and since 2000 UniQuest and its start-ups have raised more than $450 million to take university technologies to market. Annual sales of products using UQ technology and licensed by UniQuest are running at $3 billion. UniQuest now commercialises innovations developed at The University of Queensland and its commercialisation partner institutions: the University of Wollongong, University of Technology Sydney, James Cook University, University of Tasmania, Mater Medical Research Institute, and Queensland Health. UniQuest also provides access to an expansive and exclusive network of independent academics to tailor a consulting or project R&D solution to meet the diverse needs of industry and government, facilitating some 500 consulting, expert opinion, testing, and contract research services each year. UniQuest is also a leading Australasian provider of international development assistance recognised for excellence in technical leadership, management and research. Working with agencies such as AusAID, NZAID, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, UniQuest has developed and implemented more than 400 projects with 60+ countries throughout the Pacific, South-East Asia, the Indian sub-continent and Africa.
