2009-12-23
Holiday greetings!
When we entered into 2009, also known as the year of the Ox, the world had just been shaken up by the financial crisis. A remarkable year followed catalyzed by Obama’s stimulus grants, global interest rates at all-time-lows and stock markets rising with more than 40%. On top of this, our industry recorded exceptionally large mergers valued at almost $200 billion.
Despite this, our industry has been hit hard by the financial aftershocks. Many of our industry colleagues report significant drops in sales and very tough market conditions. As for CMA, I am extremely proud of our performance this year. Our dedicated sales & marketing team and distributors across the globe have continued to help researchers and clinicians to meet their goals and visions. We’ve strengthened our market share and continue to be the global leader.
CMA has continued the intensified R&D strategy, initiated already in 2007. With help of the growth capital infusion in late 2008, we’ve quietly passed a number of significant milestones throughout the year. Parts of our upcoming platform are introduced on our website, but the actual roll-out is pending the completion of additional clinical studies throughout the coming year. We’ve also continued to invest heavily in IPR and securing our know-how.
To further consolidate and finalize the strategy of supplying our solutions to a broader market, we acquired the outstanding shares of Dipylon Medical AB. Dipylon was spun-off from CMA in 2006 to enable the development of cardiothoracic monitoring solutions. Given the success of Dipylon, I’m delighted that we rejoined forces again.
With our financial strength and exciting future roadmap, we’ve been able to strengthen the team with a number of key employees, including a Medical Director, CFO, CTO and new dedicated Business Unit Head for our Basic Research solutions.
Researchers continue to make exceptional scientific advances by using microdialysis. In 2009, we’ve noted an increase in publications correlating Microdialysis markers to clinical outcome and continued use within proteomics and Alzheimer’s research.
Following our 25th anniversary, we evolved our corporate image and logotype to reflect our strong position and vision “Guiding therapy for life”.
I would like to thank our loyal and wonderful staff and the many partners, ambassadors and friends across the globe. Wishing you all a happy holiday season and please extend my gratitude to your families and loved ones who supported you throughout the year.
With Gratitudes,
Philip Siberg
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2009-12-23
Opening hours during the holidays
CMA Head office is closed due to public holidays the following days:
December 24, 25 and 31
January 1, 4, 5 and 6
CMA wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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2009-11-13
Introducing the new PiQo™ 10 fraction collector
The PiQo™ 10 is a new fraction collector designed for collecting typical microdialysis fractions of micro liter volumes. The equipment is mobile and battery driven for use on freely moving objects.
The fraction collector is designed for CMA’s microvials and built for easy use.
For more info, click here
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2009-11-13
Elevations in brain tissue lactate predicts lethal complications in patients with traumatic brain injury
Intracranial hypertension (ICHT) is a common complication following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and reported to be the primary cause of death in nearly half of TBI patients. ICHT is therefore a powerful independent predictor of outcomes. Conventional monitoring techniques have not proved to reliably predict the incidence patterns and timing of episodes of ICHT in individual patients.
In a recently published and award-winning study, a team of Australian clinicians used microdialysis to monitor cerebral metabolism with an hypothesis that microdialysis would enable prediction of impending episodes of ICHT. The main findings was that elevations in brain tissue lactate, L/P-ratio and glycerol preceded spontaneous, persistent episodes of ICHT by more than 2 hours. The absolute elevation in brain tissue lactate was identified as the earliest and strongest predictor of ICHT.
Early and reliable prediction of impending ICHT may allow for preemptive rather than reactive escalation of therapy.
The authors conclude that “this may lead to improved ICP control, a reduction in therapy-related side effects and complications, and, ultimately, in improved neurologic outcomes.”…“We conclude that bedside monitoring of cerebral metabolism using microdialysis can be used to predict impending episodes of ICP elevations.”
To read the study, clik here
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2009-11-06
CMA appoints new chairman and board member
CMA is proud to have appointed Mr. Thomas Axelsson as new Chairman of the Board. Thomas brings in over 30 years of executive experience from the medical device industry. His career includes senior positions within Baxter / Edwards Life Sciences and as CEO in companies as Stille and Artema Medical. Thomas is currently an active chairman in various Swedish medical device companies and runs his own independent consulting firm focusing on the medical sector.
Mr. Fredrik Mattsson is appointed as new Member of the Board and comes in with senior experience from Gambro, McKinsey & Co and as CEO of Anew Learning. Fredrik is currently employed as Investment Manager at Skanditek, one of CMA’s main shareholders.
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2009-10-27
A message from the CEO
Dear friends of CMA,
From basic research to clinical routine, Microdialysis is an indispensible tool for discovering, monitoring and guiding therapeutic decisions. Our solutions are used across the globe by drug developers, researchers and caregivers to guide the maze of life. CMA’s dedication and goal is clear, it’s all about guiding therapy for life!
Following our 25th anniversary, we’re evolving our corporate image and logotype. Our new logo reflects our strong position and our vision “Guiding therapy for life” is our lodestar in whatever we do, produce and deliver.
In June, we acquired the outstanding shares of Dipylon Medical AB. Dipylon was originally spun-off from CMA in 2006 to enable the development of cardiothoracic monitoring solutions. Given the success of Dipylon, I’m delighted to rejoin forces and consolidate the group.
As a consequence of the Dipylon merger, we are reorganizing the company into three business units; Medical, Microdialysis and Discovery.
Dipylon will continue to be run as a separate company within CMA, and the new entity will be name changed to CMA Medical. Mr. Mĺns Alfvén, former CEO of Dipylon Medical will continue to head up the business unit and focus on new opportunities within cardiothoracic surgery and continuous glucose monitoring.
CMA’s basic research business will be run in a new business unit called CMA Discovery. Mr. Erik Düring will be joining us on November 1st as the new manager of our basic research business. Erik has a successful career from the medical industry, latest as International Product Manager at Radi Medical, an amazing Swedish success that was recently acquired by St. Jude Medical.
CMA’s current clinical business will be run through the new business unit called CMA Microdialysis. Mrs. Johanna Malm will head up the focused unit and Katarina Ĺsberg will assume the new responsibility as Global Sales Manager and work in close cooperation with CMA’s Area Sales Managers and distributors across the globe.
Mr. Henrik Falkén assumes the new role as our group CTO (Chief Technology Officer).
Please welcome our new colleagues and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have. More detailed information is also available on our new website.
Best regards,
Philip Siberg
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2009-09-28
Mid-life sleep loss linked to Alzheimer's disease
According to a new article published in ScienceExpress, researchers have concluded that insomnia, late-night habits, and irregular sleep schedules may be linked to the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
"Our results are preliminary evidence that sleep abnormalities midlife could put people at risk of Alzheimer's disease later," concludes the scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine. The group found that the concentration of amyloid-beta, a peptide whose build-up is linked to the onset of the disease, significantly increases during periods of sleep deprivation.
In the study, microdialysis was used to study mice subjected to chronic sleep restriction. The mice that were only allowed to sleep four hours a day for 21 days, had higher amyloid-beta plaque build-up in their brain than similar-aged mice with regular sleeping habits.
Read the article in ScienceExpress
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2009-09-28
Cost Analysis of 109 Microsurgical Reconstructions and Flap Monitoring
with Microdialysis
A Finnish University Hospital are the first to publish a study analyzing the cost-effectiveness of a flap-monitoring method. A total of 109 flaps were monitored during a 3 year period with Microdialysis. The authors conclude that “Microdialysis proved to be reliable and cost-effective tool in controlling the success of the flap transfer” and that “The specificity of microdialysis in diagnosing disturbed perfusion was 99% and the sensitivity 100%”.
Microdialysis monitoring was reported to be very cost-effective “…if one or two flaps per year are saved due to more effective monitoring, then the extra costs of using microdialysis are covered”.
The study concludes that Microdialysis detected complications and saved a total of 21 flaps. By using the costs reported in the study, it can be concluded that a 1 Euro investment in Microdialysis monitoring leads to healthcare savings of almost 5 Euros.
For the abstract, click here
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2009-09-17
CMA introduces new optimized IView catheter
Following the success of the intravenous IView catheter intended for continuous monitoring in blood, CMA is proud to release a new optimized version. The new catheter comes with a longer membrane with optimized characteristics. The catheter is simply introduced into a standard PVC and allows for small substances to diffuse into the IView catheter reflecting accurate concentrations in blood. The catheter is excellent for continuously monitoring plasma metabolites as well as free fractions of drugs in blood during pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies.
The catheter forms a complete system together with the CMA’s microdialysis pumps and the ISCUS family of Microdialysis analyzers.
For more info, see here
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2009-09-01
CMA signs new partner agreements in Turkey and Japan
We are proud to have signed new distribution agreements with leading partners in Turkey and Japan.
In Japan, LMS Co. Ltd. (Laboratory & Medical Supplies) is a market leader in supplying products for life science, biotech and medical market along with application and technical services. LMS sources products from both domestic and foreign countries and supplies products to swiftly meet customer's daily need. The three major policies of the company are "Reliance", "Reliability" and "Steady".
In Turkey, Özgün Kimya A.S. will assume the new responsibility for the distribution and support of CMA’s products, effective Sept 1st 2009. Özgün is one of Turkey’s leading companies active in the bio-medical industry with over 15 years of experience as a marketing, distribution, import & export company.
For contact details, see here
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2009-08-12
FDA searching for Microdialysis PhD’s
The Office of Generic Drugs (OGD) of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has several post-doctoral positions available to investigate the use of microdialysis for establishing bioequivalence of topical dermatological drug products. These positions provide the opportunity to make a significant impact on regulatory policy. Check out the advertisement and apply here
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2009-07-01
ISCUSflex obtains FDA 510(k) clearance for US market
We are happy to announce that the new State of the Art clinical analyzer, the ISCUSflex, has been cleared for Point of Care use in the Intensive Care Unit to monitor the chemistry in the injured brain.
ISCUSflex is the third generation Microdialysis Analyzer for point-of-care neuromonitoring. The analyzer uses enzymatic reagents and colorimetric measurements to monitor levels of glucose, lactate, pyruvate, glycerol, and glutamate from microdialysis samples taken from the injured brain.
The new US version includes a software module for efficient CLIA authorization.
The ISCUSflex is a compact, transportable multi-patient microdialysis analyzer. It has the ability to run several patients at a time with the flexibility to register different amount of catheter positions per patient. There are 16 vial positions, and the maximum number of patients is eight. Depending on how many patients are active there is the opportunity to run a batch analysis of up to 16 samples.
ISCUSflex combined with microdialysis offers unique opportunities to individualize and optimize patient treatment in the ICU by detecting pathological changes before clinical signs become evident.
Celebrate with us as we launch this new instrument in the USA. For more info, contact our US office to take advantage of one of our great limited time special offers.
For more detailed product info, click here
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2009-07-01
Microdialysis critical for predicting outcome of severely injured patients
In a recently published study from Singapore, the researchers aimed to define which set of biochemical parameters were best able to improve the predictive accuracy of outcome following severe head injury (TBI). Various combinations of physiological and biochemical parameters were analyzed to assess their efficacy in predicting outcomes.
All patients underwent multimodal monitoring including ICP, CPP, MAP, Microdialysis and PbtO2 monitoring.
The study concluded that the combined use of microdialysis variables and PbtO2, in addition to the traditional ICP, MAP, and CPP variables were found have the best predictive outcome accuracy.
It was also concluded that the additional use of PbtO2 as a monitoring variable provided only a marginal improvement in the predictive accuracy.
In summary, the results suggest that microdialysis variables, and to a lesser extent PbtO2, may be valuable parameters in assessing the outcome of patients sustaining head injuries, in addition to the more traditional physiological parameters of ICP, MAP, and CPP.
The abstract is avaialable here
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2009-06-30
CMA strengthens team with new Medical Director and CFO
Pia Lindberg, M.D. has joined as new Medical Director for the CMA group. Pia is educated at Yale University School of Medicine, Harvard and Stanford University, US. Before joining CMA, Pia worked as a plastic surgeon in the US and completed a successful career at McKinsey & Company in Stockholm and New York. To contact Pia, click here.
Olof Nord joins as new group CFO. Olof brings extensive experience from various sectors including a publically listed high-growth company, financial management at Arlanda Airport as well as financial positions within the pharma industry. Olof has a Master in Economics, an MBA from Stockholm School of Economics and, has worked as an auditor at Grant Thornton.To contact Olof, click here.
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2009-06-23
CMA acquires 100% of Dipylon Medical AB
Dipylon Medical AB (Dipylon) was founded in 2006 as spin-off from CMA in collaboration with two of Sweden’s leading Cardiothoracic surgeons. In less than three years, the Dipylon team has successfully developed and launched a highly advanced catheter system for metabolic monitoring of the heart. An international multi-center study of the system is currently on-going and is expected to be finished before the end of the year.
The success of Dipylon has been enabled with help of external venture capital, research grants, innovation loans from the Swedish Government and initial sales to CT-units.
In 2008, CMA invested 27,5 MSEK in growth capital into Dipylon to enable continued clinical studies and future launch of the systems. On June 22nd, 2009, CMA acquired 100% of the outstanding shares in Dipylon. The main driver of the transaction is to enable synergies between the two companies to be fully captured. Dipylon's CEO Mĺns Alfvén will continue to run the company as an independent subsidiary of CMA focused on developing solutions for improving intensive care and patient outcomes.
The financial terms of the transaction will not be disclosed.
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2009-05-16
New Basic Research brochure
A new brochure with an overview of the microdialysis principle, system and applications is now available on the web. The new folder can be downloaded here
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2009-05-15
Microdialysis: is it ready for prime time?
This excellent review, written by professors Jerry Goodman and Claudia Robertson of The Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, USA, highlights recent advances in cerebral microdialysis.
"Growing consensus on indications for use of clinical microdialysis and advances in commercially available equipment continue to make microdialysis increasingly ‘ready for prime time.’ "
Link to abstract
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2009-05-08
Glutamate levels correlate with outcome in patients with traumatic brain injury
Glutamate levels measured by microdialysis correlate with the mortality rate and 6-month function outcome in cases of traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to new data presented at the 77th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS).
A research team at the Ben Taub General Hospital, Houston, Texas, examined glutamate levels via cerebral microdialysis in patients with severe TBI. The study included 165 patients with severe TBI treated according to a standard protocol.
The study revealed that initial high glutamate values were found to be predictive of a poor outcome. The mortality rate, for example was 30.3% in patients with a glutamate level of more than 20 versus 18% in patients with a glutamate level of less than 20.
The researchs concluded that Glutamate levels measured by microdialysis appear to have an important role in TBI.
More information is available here
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2009-04-03
CMA Celebrates 25 years
Dear Friends of CMA,
We’ve just turned 25 years old! The question is now what to say; “With age comes beauty” or
“Beauty before age”?
How is age really defined in the corporate world? The average life expectancy of a multinational Fortune-500 corporation is said to be between 40 and 50 years. Other studies indicate that the average life expectancy of all European firms, regardless of size, is only 12,5 years. The STORA company, a leading Swedish paper and pulp manufacturer, actually has a history of over 700 years, starting as a copper mine in central Sweden.
With a 25-year track record and a never ending demand for microdialysis products and solutions, CMA's corporate life has merely started. Following more than 12.000 publications, almost 1.000.000 probe deliveries and our strong and long-term owners, I am confident we’ll continue to age with beauty.
To celebrate our past and kick-off our beautiful future, we’ll start our anniversary with an open house and party on the 3rd of April. Throughout the year, CMA will continue to celebrate with promotions and special offers. Keep your eyes open, and remember what Kafka once said: “Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old”.
Best regards,
Philip Siberg
CEO
Newsletter April 2009 including an interview with Urban Ungerstedt, the founder of CMA.
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2009-03-28
CMA encourages all employees to switch off the light
CMA encourages all employees to switch off the light for one hour, March 28, 8.30 PM local time.
We are committed to VOTE EARTH for Earth Hour 2009, as part of the worlds first global election between Earth and global warming. Please join us in our effort!
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2009-02-10
CMA signs new distribution agreements
CMA has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with EKF-diagnostic GmbH, a leading German manufacturer of innovative lab analyzers and medical devices. EKF was founded in 1990 and has its headquarters near Magdeburg in Germany. The group employs over 120 employees.
Ms. Katja Lemburg, formerly employed by CMA as area sales manager for the German region, has assumed the responsibility at EKF as Product Manager for the Microdialysis products and solutions. The exclusive agreement includes the rights for CMA’s clinical products in Germany, Austria and in the GCC countries (United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Bahrain, Kuwait, Sultanate of Oman, State of Qatar and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)
CMA has broadened its successful partnership with Biogen Cientifica of Madrid, Spain, to also include the clinical portfolio of products. Effective January 1st 2009, Biogen will assume the exclusive rights for CMA’s clinical products in Spain and non-exclusive rights in Portugal.
Biogen, established in 1989, has been the distributor of the CMA’s basic research range for 16 years. Biogen is a leading life science company representing over 30 international companies with over 6.000 products available.
For contact info, please see distributors
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2009-01-31
The mother of Microdialysis retires
Mrs. Ulla Ungerstedt, CMA’s co-founder and Communication Manager, has formally retired from CMA. Ulla has been one of the key contributors behind the global roll-out of the microdialysis technique that has led to astonishing scientific and medical achievements. Ulla has had a long career within CMA and among many things managed the Microdialysis Institute with over 500 people successfully trained.
CMA is soon to reach an historical landmark as the 1.000.000 probe is shipped to customer. This event will be celebrated with special recognition to Ulla’s excellence in international marketing and customer relations.
We’ll all miss Ulla and wish her all the best in her future career as watercolor painter, professional grandmother, consultant for CMA, party angel and just being fantastic.
We welcome Mrs. Carina Rosén who will assume some of Ulla’s duties as CMA’s new Sales & Marketing Coordinator.
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2009-01-15
CMA Microdialysis visited Zagreb
CMA Microdialysis visited Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, to introduce the Microdialysis technique to leading Dr´s from hospitals in Croatia and Bosnia & Hercegovia.
The event was organized by the Swedish Embassy and took place at the Mimara Museum and the following day at the University Hospital "Sister of Mercy". Minister Per Bäckman from the Swedish Embassy opened the event and gave the welcome speach.
Ms Rada Lempert, Sales & Business Development Manager presented CMA Microdialysis AB. Professor Kresimir Rotim, Head of the Neurosurgery Department as well as Director of the University Hospital Center
"Sister of Mercy", Zagreb, addressed the auditorium with a speach welcoming everybody to the Seminar.
Prof Carl Henrik Nordstöm made a presentation on Principles of Microdialysis in Neuro Intensive Care and and Dr Greg Novak on Intrahepatic Microdialysis during Liver transplants. Dr Kemal Dizdarevic´ from Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina, lectured about Postoperative Management of Secondary Brain Ischaemia Based on Cerebral Microdialysis. The event awarded 8 postgraduate points to Dr´s attending the Seminar
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