Pulmonx, an emerging leader in interventional pulmonology, held the second EBV Academy today in Berlin. This educational meeting included more than 100 participants from around the world who attended in order to learn more about the new minimally invasive emphysema treatment that uses the Zephyr® Endobronchial Valve in conjunction with the Pulmonx Chartis pulmonary assessment system. Conducted by an international faculty of experienced physicians and company experts, the program combined an intensive day of lectures with live procedures which were webcast from the Thoraxklinik at Heidelberg University Hospital and University Hospital Charite in Berlin. A highlight of the event was the first presentation of data from a new study showing that the majority of emphysema patients can be treated with EBV therapy. This new data was collected from the observational LIVE (A Long term follow up Investigation of endobronchial Valves in Emphysema) study, which is the largest study of its kind organized to date and which is being conducted at 138 centers throughout Germany.
“We’ve known for some time that the treatment was safe and effective, but previously it was speculated that it could only be used in a small percentage of patients. Now for the first time we have data from a large study that shows the Zephyr® EBV therapy when planned in conjunction with Chartis assessment is applicable for the vast majority of patients,” said Professor Felix Herth, MD, PhD, FCCP, Chairman and Head of Pneumology and Respiratory Care at Thoraxklinik, University of Heidelberg and a chief faculty member for the academy meeting.
The Zephyr® Endobronchial Valve is a minimally invasive device intended to treat patients with emphysema. Emphysema patients suffer from hyperinflation, an increase in volume of the diseased portions of their lungs, which then compresses the healthier areas. The Zephyr® EBV therapy involves bronchoscopic placement of one-way valves designed to reduce the hyperinflation in the diseased portion of the lungs, thereby improving the ability of the healthier portions of the lungs to function.
Late stage emphysema is a major public health problem and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. “Emphysema is a terrible disease that causes intense suffering and disability for patients and drives very large direct and indirect healthcare costs,” said Arschang Valipour, MD, FCCP, Associate Professor, Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institute for COPD and Respiratory Epidemiology at Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at Otto-Wagner-Spital, Vienna, Austria. “The EBV therapy is a cost effective way to provide treatment that may help mitigate the long term costs associated with the disease,” he continued.
The Pulmonx Chartisassessment system with EBV therapy is the first safe and effective treatment for late stage emphysema, and the emergence of EBV therapy has created a tremendous need for training and medical education. In the last two years, scores of CME accredited educational symposiums have been organized by leading academic and medical institutions around the globe to provide EBV training for physicians who treat or manage emphysema patients. The EBV Academy organized by Pulmonx is the largest and most recent of these meetings.
“Over 6,000 patients have been treated to date with EBV therapy and the majority of those patients have been treated here in Europe,” said Ralf -H. Hübner, MD, Charité University, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Pulmonary Medicine. “I am particularly pleased that we were able to hold this important meeting here in Berlin since Germany is home to some of the most active and experienced centers in the world. It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to share our clinical experience with our colleagues from around the globe.”
At the meeting, Pulmonx also unveiled the most recent additions to its line of products. These included the Zephyr® 4.0-LP valve, which due to its low profile will expand the group of patients eligible for the therapy by allowing treatment of patients with difficult anatomies. In addition, Pulmonx introduced its next generation of Chartis with expanded features.
In conjunction with the meeting, the German COPD patient support groups (COPD-Deutschland e.V. and the Patientenorganisation Lungenemphysem-COPD Deutschland) also launched a new educational booklet for physicians and their patients on COPD and treatment options. Anyone interested in these materials can find them free of charge at www.copd-deutschland.de and http://www.lungenemphysem-copd.de
About Zephyr®
The Zephyr® EBV received the CE Mark in 2003. Since becoming commercially available in Europe and select countries worldwide, the company estimates that it has been used to treat over 6,000 patients, over 40 percent of whom have been treated in the last 12 months.
About Chartis
The Pulmonx Chartis Pulmonary Assessment System provides pulmonologists with lobe-specific information about a patient’s lung, enabling physicians to plan valve treatments to account for anatomical variations in the lungs of individual patients which impact the effectiveness of the valves. The addition of the Pulmonx Chartis assessment now ensures that a very high percent of treated patients will experience benefit from EBV treatment.
About Pulmonx
Pulmonx, based in Redwood City, California, and Neuchatel, Switzerland, is focused on developing and marketing minimally invasive medical devices and technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary disorders. http://www.pulmonx.com/
The Zephyr® EBV is an investigational device in the United States. Limited by U.S. law to investigational use.
