Uptake Medical Announces Positive 12-month Outcome Data for InterVapor Therapy for Severe Emphysema

SAN FRANCISCO, May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced emphysema patients who underwent minimally invasive InterVapor™ (bronchoscopic thermal vapor ablation) experienced sustained improved lung function and quality of life outcomes one year after undergoing treatment, according to new data presented today at the meeting of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) in San Francisco, CA.  The InterVapor procedure, pioneered by U.S.-based Uptake Medical, involves catheter-based application of precise amounts of thermal vapor to specific areas within an emphysema patient's airways, to achieve lung volume reduction.

According to lead presenter Prof. Felix Herth of Thoraxklinik, Heidelberg, Germany, in his presentation, VAPOR Trial: 12 Month Efficacy and Safety Following Endoscopic Thermal Vapor Ablation (InterVapor™) For Patients With Heterogeneous Emphysema, individuals who underwent the InterVapor procedure maintained statistically significant lung volume reduction at 12 months, with lung volume in the targeted region reduced by 46% compared to the patients' baseline.  One year after their procedure in only one lung, InterVapor patients experienced sustained, clinically and statistically significant lung function improvements. These included 10% mean improvements in forced expiratory volume (FEV1), and an average 303ml improvement in residual volume (RV), both important measures of a person's ability to breathe.

According to Prof. Herth, InterVapor patients also experienced less breathlessness and a sustained improvement in health-related quality of life compared to baseline, as observed by an average improvement of 11 units in the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ).

"Patients who received the InterVapor procedure experienced improved lung function and health outcomes one year following treatment, and these improvements continued despite expectations for disease-related decline over time," said Prof. Herth.  "The data on these real benefits for patients reinforce this technology's potential as a new therapeutic option for managing severe emphysema."

Additional Positive Indicators for InterVapor

Clinical posters presented during the ATS meeting further reinforced InterVapor's clinical profile.  A poster authored by Armin Ernst, MD (Boston, USA), illustrated a correspondence between greater benefit and higher disease severity (GOLD stage classification).  A second poster, authored by Arschang Valipour, MD (Vienna, Austria), illustrated that corresponding lower lobe volumes increased and that there was no relevant effect on the opposite lung.  A third poster, authored by Daniela Gompelmann, MD (Heidelberg, Germany), reported a correlation between more prominent respiratory symptoms during the first four weeks of post-procedure recovery, and greater long-term efficacy.

"We are very encouraged by the continued clinical results demonstrating InterVapor's sustained success," said King Nelson, CEO of Uptake Medical. "It is particularly impressive to see these improvements in a broad spectrum of patients, and we look forward to helping more patients with severe emphysema experience the benefits of this important therapy."

Uptake Medical's InterVapor system is an endoscopic treatment for patients with severe emphysema and the first and only approach to endoscopic lung volume reduction that uses the body's natural healing process without using any chemicals or requiring implants in the lung. Patients in both the clinical trial and early commercial cases reported clinically meaningful improvements in breathing function, exercise capacity and quality of life.  Uptake Medical has received CE mark and Therapeutic Goods Authority (TGA) approval to market in the European Union and Australia.  Additional information about Uptake Medical and the InterVapor procedure are available at www.uptakemedical.com.  InterVapor is a trademark of Uptake Medical Inc.

SOURCE Uptake Medical Inc.