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NEWS RELEASE VISIOMED AND CUSTOMVIS FORM JOINT VENTURE To develop and commercialise microEYE™ System Announcement Highlights: • Visiomed and CustomVis to form joint venture to develop and commercialise microEYE™ System for screening & diagnosis of eye diseases • CustomVis to have rights to manufacture and distribute microEYE™ Perth, Australia. Wednesday 16th February 2005: Biomedical devices developer, Visiomed Group Ltd (ASX: VSG) and London AIM-listed ophthalmic surgical laser group CustomVis plc have agreed to incorporate a joint venture to develop and commercialise Visiomed microEYE™ System for the screening and diagnosis of major eye diseases. Visiomed has been developing microEYE™ as a computer-based smart imaging system utilising its intellectual property that allows for the imaging of different regions of the eye using one device instead of a number of devices. The microEYE™ System is targeted at assisting clinicians in the screening and diagnosis of major eye diseases such as cataract, glaucoma, trachoma, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration. Visiomed will own 80% of the joint venture and CustomVis will have 20% of the equity. Visiomed will supply the development team and its intellectual property in the area, whilst CustomVis will provide infrastructure and engineering support through its modern, fully-equipped ophthalmic engineering facilities located in Balcatta, Western Australia. CustomVis will also have the first right to negotiate on commercial terms the contract to manufacture and distribute the microEYE™ system into international markets. Visiomed’s CEO, Dr Saliba Sassine, said the agreement to establish the joint venture was a very positive development as it will significantly reduce microEYE™ development cost and time to market, whilst giving the group a clear strategy for manufacturing and distribution. “CustomVis is an excellent partner for Visiomed as they are a leader in solid state laser ophthalmic surgical technology and have strong expertise and modern well equipped engineering and electronics facilities. “They also have some very interesting eye tracking technology used in their surgical equipment that could prove very interesting for licensing into the joint venture for future development,” said Dr Sassine. Visiomed’s engineers have already developed a first prototype of microEYE™ with a number of innovative features that will give the system many advantages compared with the existing system. Some of the competitive advantages will include pricing, system portability, multi-functionality for disease screening, ease of use, archiving and telemedicine connectivity.
The joint venture partners are aiming to show a microEYE™ prototype to CustomVis collaborative and distribution partners at the meeting of the American Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgery in Washington in April of this year. The CEO of CustomVis, Dr Paul Van Saarlos, said that microEYE™ was well positioned to meet a number of needs and deliver clear benefits to clinicians and the broader community. About Visiomed Group Ltd Visiomed is a medical devices group focused on delivering innovative solutions to the management of major diseases through screening, diagnosis and drug delivery. The Company owns the Funhaler® technology, a paediatric spacer for the delivery of asthma drugs to children. The Funhaler® is patented and is the only asthma spacer/chamber device that can incorporate incentive toys such as whistles and spinning discs into its design to encourage children to take their medication. The Company has received US FDA pre-market clearance for the Funhaler and is in the process of appointing international distributors. Visiomed also has the exclusive world wide rights to use proprietary computer-based imaging technology as an aid in the screening and diagnosis of diseases other than dermatology. About CustomVis CustomVis develops, manufactures and commercialises solid state laser optical equipment for use within the laser vision correction industry. The production Quality System is certified to ISO 13485 for Medical Devices. The company has proprietary intellectual property and patents covering its laser optical systems and eye tracking technologies. CustomVis is listed on the London Alternative Investment Market (London AIM code CUS.) About Eye Diseases Around 160 million people suffer from some form of vision problems worldwide. Some of the major eye diseases include cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Untreated, eye diseases can lead to blindness however early diagnosis of diseases can prevent the onset of blindness in most cases. ENDS Visiomed Contact: Buchan Group: Dr Saliba Sassine Rebecca Christie (08) 9321 2712 or 0412 533 966 (02) 9237 2800 or 0417 382 391 CustomVis plc Dr Paul van Saarloos (08) 9273 4000 or 0410 497 456