Given Imaging Leading European Consortium Developing Cancer Screening System for the Gastrointestinal Tract
Tuesday January 16, 4:01 pm ET
Industry Leaders in Imaging, Biosensing Technologies and Ultra-Low Power Design Join in Development of PillCam(TM) Capsule Endoscope With Molecular Diagnostics
YOQNEAM, ISRAEL--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 16, 2007 -- Given Imaging Ltd. (NASDAQ:GIVN - News) today announced that it has received approval from the European Commission of the Sixth EU Framework Program of Research and Technological Development ("FP6 commission") to lead a consortium that will develop an integrated imaging-biosensing system to screen for cancer of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The "Nano-based capsule-Endoscopy with Molecular Imaging and Optical biopsy" (NEMO) project kicked off in Tel-Aviv at the end of November.
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In addition to Given Imaging, the consortium includes Zarlink Semiconductor (Sweden and UK), Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Israelitic Hospital and Indivumed (Germany), Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (London, England), ITC-irst Research Institute (Italy), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Novamed and Ernst &Young (Israel). The NEMO Group will invest EUR 4.7 million over the next three years, of which the European Commission will contribute EUR 2.8 million. Given Imaging's gross and net contribution is EUR 1.3 million and EUR 0.6 million, respectively.
The objective of the NEMO project is to increase patient compliance with currently recommended screening guidelines by developing an advanced cancer screening system that is patient-friendly, highly sensitive and specific for early detection of cancer. To achieve this NEMO will converge optical technologies with Nano-technologies, biosensing and maneuvering technologies to create a unique PillCam capsule endoscope capable of secretion analysis and the detection of marked and deep tissue disorders. The consortium believes the combination of the image and molecular analysis to mark the tumor may provide a novel and effective medical device for mass screening for GI cancer.
"We are proud to advance our research in the biosensing field with such leading research and industrial organizations," said Elisha Rabinovitz, DSc, Chief Scientist of Given Imaging and the consortium coordinator. "This project further exemplifies Given's commitment to develop new and innovative solutions to help physicians treat their patients and could represent a revolutionary platform of biopsy free procedures
