LIDCO GROUP PLC

("LiDCO" or the "Company")

NHS Innovation Review launches a national drive to implement fluid monitoring technology across the NHS

The NHS Improvement and Efficiency Directorate published its report Innovation, Health and Wealth on 5 December 2011.  This report sets out actions that will help drive the NHS's commitment to innovation by putting in place mechanisms to drive the faster adoption of transformative medical products into clinical practice.

Advanced fluid monitoring of elective surgery patients has been identified in the report as a target for a national drive to move towards full adoption throughout the UK.  There are 800,000 patients a year in the UK who are applicable for such advanced monitoring, but less than 10% are currently monitored.  Full adoption would potentially save the NHS up to £400 million per annum.

LiDCO's products provide advanced minimally invasive fluid monitoring that is used by anaesthetists during surgery to guide the safer and more effective administration of fluids and drugs, thereby reducing infections and hospital stay^1&2.  Clearly, LiDCO's products can help the Directorate to achieve its ambitions to "dramatically improve the quality of care and services for patients."

Dr Terry O'Brien, CEO LiDCO Group Plc, stated:  "The case for using advanced fluid and drug hemodynamic monitoring is formidable.  We welcome this report and its clear recommendation to drive the wider adoption of fluid monitoring in the UK NHS.  Our technology has been shown to reduce length of stay by up to an average of 12 days¹ and complications by 67%² in high risk surgery patients.  Our business is already growing strongly in the UK.  We reported in the interims that recurring disposable income for our surgical monitor, the LiDCOrapid, doubled in the first half of this year, compared to the same period last year.  These recommendations should further support continued sales growth of LiDCO's products in the UK."

¹ Pearse R, Dawson D, Fawcett J, Rhodes A, Grounds RM, Bennett ED (2005) Early goal-directed therapy after major surgery reduces complications and duration of hospital stay. A randomised, controlled trial. Crit Care 9 (6) 687-693

² Lobo S et al., (2011) Restrictive strategy of intraoperative fluid maintenance during optimization of oxygen delivery decreases major complications after high risk surgery. Critical Care vol 15:R226 doi: 10.1186/cc10466

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About LiDCO Group Plc

LiDCO is a supplier of minimally invasive hemodynamic equipment to hospitals, to monitor the amount of blood flowing around the body and ensure that vital organs are adequately oxygenated. LiDCO's products facilitate the application of hemodynamic optimization protocols for high risk patients in both critical care units and in the operating theatre. 

Increasingly clinical studies are showing that the optimization of patients' hemodynamic status in high risk patients produces better outcomes and reduced hospital stay.  LiDCO's computer-based technology, developed at St Thomas' Hospital in London, has been shown to significantly reduce morbidity and complications, length of stay and overall costs associated with major surgery.

Key Products:

All LiDCO monitors use single-patient disposables (sensors or smartcards) which provide an ongoing revenue stream. 

Clinical Validation & Education

LiDCO has been selected as the sole technology for two ongoing multi-centre government-funded studies in the UK and US. OPTIMISE is sponsored by the UK Government for optimizing cardiovascular management in high-risk abdominal surgery patients and in the US, MOnIToR is a US Government sponsored transplantation donor organ optimization study. The Company has also developed a hemodynamic workshop at St George's Hospital, London.

LiDCO Distribution Network:

LiDCO's strategy is to sell directly to hospitals in the UK, and through a network of specialty critical care and anesthesia distributors in the rest of the world.

LiDCO's sales office is in Cambridge, its manufacturing facility and headquarters are in London and its shares are traded on AIM. For more information please see www.lidco.com.