Barcelona – 25th October 2012 – Phagenesis today launches the world’s first approved treatment for acute dysphagia following stroke.

The Phagenyx^® system delivers calibrated electrical stimulus to the throat (oropharynx) for 10 minutes a day for three consecutive days to patients who suffer from dysphagia – the inability to swallow safely – a debilitating condition that affects about half of all stroke patients[1]. Randomised controlled clinical trials show that this protocol leads to statistically significant improvements in patients’ swallowing function.

Phagenesis also announced its first sales of the Phagenyx^® system, in a transaction worth seven figures, to Modern Pharmaceutical Company (MPC), a leading distributor in the Middle East at the annual congress of the European Society for Swallowing Disorders (ESSD) in Barcelona, Spain. Initial markets for Phagenyx^® will be the UK and the UAE.

Daniel Green, CEO of Phagenesis^®, said: “Within the last few months, the team has worked tirelessly to get the product to where it is today. By bringing this product to market, we are providing physicians with the tools they need to treat dysphagia and alleviate the suffering of many stroke patients.”

The Phagenyx^® system is the result of almost 20 years work by Professor Shaheen Hamdy at the University of Manchester, UK. Phagenesis^®, a Manchester company, was formed in 2007 to turn Professor Hamdy’s work into technology suitable for everyday use in hospitals.

Dysphagia significantly increases the risk of aspiration pneumonia that can lead to an extended hospital stay, transfer to intensive care, expensive drug treatment and risk of death. Recovery can take months and some patients never regain their swallowing function. Clinical trials with the electrical stimulation delivered by Phagenyx^® have shown not only a reduction in the level of aspiration (inhaled liquids or solids) that can lead to life-threatening pneumonia, but also a reduction of 5 days in hospital stays for stroke patients. Based on the reduction in hospital stay, studies show that Phagenyx^® is cost saving as well as clinically beneficial.

Manchester, July 8th 2010 – Phagenesis Limited, a leader in technology for the treatment of stroke patients, has appointed Henry Hyde-Thomson as Chairman and Daniel Green as Chief Executive Officer. Both bring a wealth of experience in growing young companies to the University of Manchester spinout. They will lead Phagenesis^® in the development of a new class of treatments for stroke victims suffering from dysphagia, a common condition that prevents or impairs the safe swallowing of food and drink.

Phagenesis’ technology is a device that delivers electrical pulses to the throat region that can “awaken” the brain to help restore swallowing function. At least 50% of stroke victims have impaired swallowing. Apart from a severe reduction in quality of life, dysphagia often leads to the inhalation of liquids and the development of life-threatening pneumonia. In addition, the financial burden of dysphagia runs into thousands of pounds per patient in the first few weeks alone and may continue indefinitely if the patients’ swallowing is not restored.

Daniel Green, formerly CEO of Repregen Ltd, said: “Phagenesis^® has a technology that had already shown its value in patients for whom there is no effective pharmaceutical or medical device treatment. Our challenge is to bring this technology to the benefit of patients and health services everywhere.” Daniel co-founded Repregen as an Imperial College spinout in 2006. Before that, was a venture capital investor at HBM Partners in Zurich, Switzerland, Dresdner Kleinwort, in London, UK, and MVM, also London, UK.

Henry Hyde-Thomson, Chairman of AngloScientific said: “This is an exciting time for Phagenesis^® as the company commercialises the results of 15 years development by the company’s scientific founder, Dr. Shaheen Hamdy.” Henry is chairman of 21Net, Phasor Solutions and MMIC Solutions and was previously founder and chairman of Speech Machines, acquired by Philips in 2001.

Dr. Conor Mulrooney COO and Phagenesis co-founder said: “We are fortunate to secure the skills and experience of Daniel and Henry and are now well positioned to bring our first products to market.” Conor founded Phagenesis^® in 2007 with Dr. Shaheen Hamdy, the inventor of the technology.

Manchester, UK. 22 May 2012 – Phagenesis Ltd, the global leader in the treatment of dysphagia (inability to swallow safely), has been awarded c. £1 million from the Wellcome Trust to extend the scope of its dysphagia treatment device, from hospitals into the community. The Phagenesis^® technology is designed to treat patients who are dysphagic following a stroke.

Dysphagia affects more than 1 million stroke victims in Europe and North America per year. Dysphagia patients can suffer from malnutrition and can develop pneumonia as a result of inhaling solids, liquids or their own saliva. Currently, there is no generally accepted treatment for the condition and patients typically have to be fed puréed food and thickened liquids or be fed through a tube, which can severely limit their quality of life.

Phagenesis has developed the world’s first clinically-proven device to treat dysphagia in stroke patients in the first few weeks while they are hospitalised. With the help of the Wellcome Trust, Phagenesis^® is now developing and testing a new version of its device to treat patients suffering from long-term dysphagia.

Daniel Green, CEO of Phagenesis^®, said: “Our technology can make a significant difference to patients in the hospital who have this difficult-to-treat condition. We believe this benefit can be extended more widely to people outside the hospital setting. We are delighted to have the support of the Wellcome Trust to adapt our technology and reach these patients and improve their quality of life.”

He added: “The Wellcome Trust adds to our already strong group of partners led by Inventages and AngloScientific.”

News Release 3 – 4 October 2011

Phagenesis^® closes €7 million series B financing round. Pioneer in the treatment of acute and chronic dysphagia secures additional VC funding to accelerate commercialisation strategy
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Manchester, October 4th 2011 – Phagenesis Ltd, the global leader in the treatment of dysphagia (inability to swallow safely) announced today that it has closed a €7 million Series B funding round designed to accelerate the company’s development plans.

The investment is led by Inventages, one of the world’s largest life science funds specialised in treatment solutions for chronic diseases. Existing shareholders also participated in the round.

 The Phagenesis^® device delivers a precisely sequenced and calibrated electrical signal to the pharynx of the dysphagic patient. Peer-reviewed clinical trials have shown that this treatment is safe and effective in improving the patients’ safe swallowing ability.

Gunnar Weikert, Founder of Inventages, said, “Phagenesis^® is addressing a critical unmet need in a very large market. Dysphagic patients are underserved by modern medicine and many face tube-feeding and a significant loss of quality of life for decades. Phagenesis^® is ideally-placed to meet this challenge.”

Ashok Dhanrajgir, Senior Partner at Inventages and incoming Board Director added: “We are optimistic that Phagenesis^® will demonstrate further clinical evidence on efficacy and health economic benefits to society.”

Daniel Green, CEO of Phagenesis^®, said, “Phagenesis^® has translated the research of our academic founder Professor Shaheen Hamdy into a medical device designed to alleviate the suffering of millions of patients around the world. We and Inventages share a vision of our technology and the way it can be deployed to benefit these patients and we welcome them on board.”

News Release 3–1 September 2010

Manchester, September 1st 2010 – Phagenesis Limited, a leader in technology for the treatment of swallowing dysfunction, has raised £2 million of investment to support the development of a new class of treatments for stroke patients who suffer from dysphagia, a common condition that prevents or impairs the safe swallowing of food and drink.

The company, which was spun out from The University of Manchester, has been successful in rapidly attracting funding from a number of experienced investors. Commenting on the funding news, Phagenesis^® CEO Daniel Green said: “To raise £2 million in a few months in the current economic climate is a remarkable achievement and was made possible because the Phagenesis^® technology has accumulated substantial amounts of exciting data in human subjects. The investment will enable us to undertake design and clinical trials of a production device which we expect to be available globally.”

The Phagenesis^® treatment involves a device that delivers electrical pulses to the throat region that can “awaken” the brain to help restore swallowing function. At least 50% of stroke victims have impaired swallowing. Apart from a severe reduction in quality of life, dysphagia often leads to the inhalation of liquids and the development of life-threatening pneumonia. In addition, the financial burden of dysphagia can run to thousands of pounds per patient in the first few weeks alone, and may continue indefinitely if the patient’s swallowing is not restored.

Dr. Conor Mulrooney, COO and Professor Shaheen Hamdy founded Phagenesis in 2007. Prof. Hamdy, the inventor of the technology is Professor of Gastroenterology at Salford Royal Hospital NHS Trust and was previously Fellow at the Sobell Department of Neurophysiology, UCL. The company appointed earlier this year Henry Hyde-Thomson as Chairman and Daniel Green as Chief Executive Officer.