GI Dynamics extends reach of diabetes treatment

GI Dynamics (ASX:GID) has rolled out its EndoBarrier diabetes therapy for use in France for the first time, in one of several milestones in its push to extend the product's commercial footprint.

Patients were recently treated with EndoBarrier at the University Hospital Lille Hopital Claude Huriez, the company has revealed.

More centres in Germany and Chile have meanwhile started offering the treatment. Existing Chilean centre Red Salud UC has been named the first EndoBarrier Therapy Center of Excellence due to the clinic treating more than 200 patients with the technology so far.

GI Dynamics chief commercial officer Mark Twyman said that introducing EndoBarrier into new markets and expanding its reach in existing markets “are two of the key objectives we set for 2012.”

Germany has one of the highest rates of diabetes prevalence and mortality in the EU, while around 14.5% of the adult population of France is obese.

EndoBarrier is a medical device administered non-surgically through the mouth. It is designed to be placed inside a section of a patient's intestine, and serve as a barrier between food and that part of the intestinal wall, mimicking the effects of a gastric bypass.

The therapy promotes weight loss and improves blood glucose levels. Unlike bypass surgery, EndoBarrier is temporary, designed to be removed after up to 12 months of use.

EndoBarrier has CE Mark approval in Europe and TGA approval in Australia, but is still investigational in the US. It is currently commercially available in the UK, the Netherlands and Austria as well as Germany and France.

GI Dynamics was founded in 2003, and is based in Massachusetts in the US. The company listed on the ASX in September last year.

In a research note late last month, Bell Potter Securities affirmed its buy rating on the company's ASX CDIs, arguing that the current price is significantly undervalued.

GI Dynamics (ASX:GID) was trading at $0.900 at 2:30pm on Tuesday, up 2.27%. This compares to Bell Potter's target price of $1.76 for a base case, and $2.92 in an optimistic scenario.