LIDCO GROUP PLC

PULSECO APPLICABLE TO CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE MARKET

Early interest from Cardiologists seen as encouraging

LiDCO Group Plc, (LSE: LID), the UK-based cardiovascular monitoring devices company, announces that initial positive results from procedures undertaken in the UK and Germany support the application of LiDCO's PulseCO technology in the Congestive Heart Failure market (CHF), one of the potential future target markets described by the Company at its flotation. The Company is now actively exploring ways to commercialise the technology in this area.

Five million people suffer from CHF in the US per annum and an additional 500,000 new cases are reported each year. The cost of treating these patients is estimated at £14.7 billion per annum. An increasingly common treatment is the insertion of a pacemaker device which stimulates a patient's heart via an insulated electrode wire implanted into the right heart atrium or ventricle. A recent development is the 'biventricular' pacemaker where an additional pacing electrode is inserted into the left ventricle. This allows for more sophisticated and optimal pacing options - pace rate and location of electrodes - for each patient. These newer pacing devices are addressing a market that is expected to reach $1.2 billion per annum by 2006.

The challenge facing cardiologists is how treatment with these new bi-ventricular pacing devices can be optimised for each patient. Currently, cardiologists have no easy or established method to judge which bi-ventricular pacing option is most appropriate and may use a range of different measurements, such as blood pressure and/or trans-oesophageal echo, to help their decision. With the PulseCO technology, precise, continuous and real-time information is generated before, during and after the bi-ventricular pacing procedure which helps the cardiologist take a more immediate and informed decision, with minimal disruption to the procedure. LiDCO's technology also provides greater guidance on the suitability of individual patients for these specific devices.

To demonstrate PulseCO's applicability in this area, biventricular procedures have been undertaken using LiDCO's technology in hospitals in the UK and Germany. All the procedures have been successful and these results will be published later this year.

Dr John Morgan, a leading cardiologist at the Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK, who has conducted several of the bi-ventricular / PulseCO procedures, said: "LiDCO's technology provides an instant, realtime method of monitoring cardiac performance which is invaluable in the assessment of the treatment of patients with CHF, particularly after they have received resynchronisation pacemakers or implantable defibrillators. There is clear clinical evidence that shows the data generated by the PulseCO system provides cardiologists with the means to monitor and optimise patient treatment which will improve the overall clinical outcomes."

LiDCO recently attended the Cardiothoracic Techniques and Technologies meeting held in Miami, US, and Pressure Volume Loops meeting in Maastricht, Holland. At both meetings there was considerable interest from attending physicians regarding this new application of PulseCO in the congestive heart failure market.

Terry O'Brien, Chief Executive of LiDCO, said: "The cardiology market, in particular, CHF, is a significant potential market for us and we are encouraged by the outcome of the first procedures using our technology. The introduction of biventricular pacing can significantly improve the quality of life for CHF patients. We believe that PulseCO can play a role in further improving this treatment as a result of the range of features and the real-time nature and accuracy of the data produced."

NOTES TO EDITORS

LiDCO Group Plc

LiDCO researches, develops, manufactures and sells innovative medical devices primarily for critical care and cardiovascular risk hospital patients who require real-time cardiovascular monitoring. The Group currently has two principal products both of which are patent protected: the LiDCO System (calibrating monitor) and the PulseCO System (the real-time cardio-vascular monitor). The Company's principal customers are hospitals. The Company floated on AIM in July 2001.

Benefits of the LiDCO and PulseCO Systems

• Minimally invasive - LiDCO's cardiovascular monitoring technology simply utilises the existing blood pressure monitoring signal which is available via the peripheral arterial catheter which is already inserted in the radial artery of the arm of patients undergoing surgery or in critical care. This contrasts with the current market leading product, a thermodilution pulmonary artery catheter, which requires insertion in a patient's heart and pulmonary artery.
• Easy to use - the technology takes less than five minutes to set up and apply. In addition, nurses as well as doctors can use the equipment.
• Comprehensive data - the innovative sensor, electronics and software technology allows the monitoring of the key physiological readings of fluid status, blood pressure and cardiac output thereby allowing the calculation and control of oxygen delivery to the body tissues.
• Widely applicable - the technology can be applied in a number of critical care situations including cardiac surgery, major surgery, post-operative cardiovascular and surgical monitoring, intensive care and high dependency unit.