CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (BW Health Wire) - October 13, 2000 -- Hemedex, Inc., a privately held company developing minimally invasive sensors to measure tissue blood flow, has received a multimillion dollar equity investment from Hanmi Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., of Seoul, Korea.

This investment will allow Hemedex to develop products based on proprietary perfusion quantification technology licensed from Thermal Technologies, Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Specific terms are not disclosed. The flow of blood through the various tissues and organs of the body is called perfusion. Perfusion is the process through which oxygen, nutrients and drugs are carried throughout the body. The measurement of perfusion therefore, provides extraordinary information about the viability of tissue and its response to pharmaceutical or device interventions. Using a novel, minimally invasive probe, Hemedex will develop a range of products that will provide for the first time the quantification of perfusion in absolute units continuously and in real time at the patient bedside or in the operating room. The ability to measure perfusion will provide physicians with a powerful new tool to help monitor and guide the progress of therapy and healing.

Several studies and publications have already demonstrated the accuracy of Hemedex's platform technology to measure perfusion and its potential value in multiple clinical applications. In organ transplantation, Dr. Ernst Klar and his colleagues at the University of Heidelberg have used the probe in 82 liver transplant patients and found a minimum threshold level of perfusion that is predictive of successful transplantation. According to Dr. Klar, "This device allows for continuous quantification of organ microcirculation under clinical conditions. It has great potential in organ transplantation and ICU care to assess reperfusion injury, to diagnose imminent organ failure and to optimize vasoactive drug therapy."

In neurosurgery, Drs. Peter Vajkoczy, Peter Schmiedek and colleagues at the Mannheim Clinic in Germany have shown that the probe accurately quantifies cerebral perfusion in head-injured patients. These results are published in the August 2000 issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery. Dr. Vajkoczy states, "So far, we have successfully applied this technique to more than 50 neurosurgical patients suffering from severe cerebral injuries. It has proven to be an important adjunct to existing neuromonitoring strategies providing information on the key determinant of tissue oxygenation and substrate delivery, i.e. cerebral perfusion."

Chairman of Hemedex, H. Frederick Bowman, Ph.D., reports, "We plan to further apply our proprietary, platform perfusion measurement technique to those clinical application areas where we can have a significant impact on patient management such as cardiovascular monitoring, diagnosis of peripheral vascular disease, including atherosclerosis, oncology, reconstructive surgery and several potentially huge non-invasive perfusion markets. "

Hemedex plans to establish strategic partnerships with entities that have a strong market presence in each of the target clinical application areas.

Hemedex, Inc., located in Cambridge, Massachusetts has licensed proprietary blood flow measurement technology from Thermal Technologies, Inc. Hemedex is focused on developing a stream of products from this technology platform that address critical medical problems in the areas that include neurosurgical monitoring, organ transplantation, cardiovascular monitoring, reconstructive surgery and oncology diagnosis.

Hanmi Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. is located in Seoul, Korea and was founded in 1973. Hanmi is an international leader in the development and production of 3rd Generation Cephalosporanic Antibiotics. Major products include Cephalosprin derivatives such as Cefotaxime and Ceftriaxone. In 2000, gross sales are estimated to be 150 billion won (US$ 136 million).