Corporate News

Polarean Imaging plc (AIM: POLX), the medical-imaging technology company, with a proprietary drug-device combination product for the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) market, announces the delivery of the latest model of Polarean's Xenon polariser to The Department of Radiology & Medical Imaging at the University of Virginia Health System (UVa). The Company is poised to initiate its Phase III Clinical Trials with staff at UVa within a few weeks.

The Department of Radiology & Medical Imaging at UVa has been one of the worldwide pioneers in the clinical research of hyperpolarized gases for lung imaging and has been a key clinical collaborator with Polarean. As a result of this collaboration, the Department of Radiology & Medical Imaging at UVa, has now three latest-generation Xenon-129 Polarean polarizers installed at their site. The first two were purchased by UVa, and the third will be used exclusively for Polarean's Phase III clinical trial.

Jaime Mata, Associate Professor of Radiology & Medical Imaging and Assistant Director for the Center for Hyperpolarized Gas MR Imaging at UVa commented: "I am pleased that UVa was chosen as one of the sites for the Phase III clinical trial for this drug and device. I believe this clinical trial will be very important for the future of our field."

Richard Hullihen, CEO of Polarean said: "We are excited to deliver this newest system, which represents the latest chapter in a relationship dating back to the origins of Polarean. We are grateful to Dr Mata, UVa, and all the skilled researchers there, for the opportunity to work together, and could not hope to have a more proficient and experienced institution and program with whom to conduct our trials, and to continue our research into the clinical applications of this emerging and much needed technology."

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.

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About Polarean (www.polarean.com)

The Company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Polarean, Inc. (together the "Group") are revenue generating, medical drug-device combination companies operating in the high resolution medical imaging market.

The Group develops equipment that enables existing MRI systems to achieve an improved level of pulmonary function imaging and specialises in the use of hyperpolarised Xenon gas (129Xe) as an imaging agent to visualise ventilation and gas exchange regionally in the smallest airways of the lungs, the tissue barrier between the lung and the bloodstream and in the pulmonary vasculature. Xenon gas exhibits solubility and signal properties that enable it to be imaged within other tissues and organs.

The Group operates in an area of significant unmet medical need and the Group's technology provides a novel diagnostic approach, offering a non-invasive and radiation-free functional imaging platform which is more accurate and less harmful to the patient than current methods. The annual burden of pulmonary disease in the US is estimated to be over US$150 billion.

The Group also develops and manufactures high performance MRI radiofrequency (RF) coils which are a required component for imaging 129Xe in the MRI system. The development of these coils by the Group facilitates the adoption of the Xenon technology by providing application-specific RF coils which optimise the imaging of 129Xe in MRI equipment for use as a medical diagnostic as well as a method of monitoring the efficacy of therapeutic intervention.