Osprey's pilot diabetic limb trial a success

Osprey Medical’s (ASX:OSP) Limb Recovery System was able to significantly reduce bacterial load during a pilot safety study in patients with diabetic foot infections.

Details of the five-patient pilot trial were presented at the Diabetic Foot Global Conference in Los Angeles last month.

Results show that the Limb Recovery System safely achieved targeted delivery of antibiotics to the lower limb, and patients with diabetic foot infections demonstrated significant reductions in bacterial load.

Principal investigator Associate Professor Paul Wraight said the results are very encouraging. “One of our study patients had been scheduled for amputation prior to being enrolled in the pilot trial, but this was cancelled given the excellent improvement in infection as a result of percutaneous isolated limb perfusion,” he said.

“Obviously this is anecdotal evidence from a small pilot trial, but it provides optimism for our larger, randomised efficacy trial.”

Osprey Medical is currently recruiting for a 20-patient efficacy trial that will evaluate the effectiveness of the system compared to standard dose intravenous antibiotic delivery. The study is expected to wrap up by the end of the year.

The company started recruiting patients for the two studies - the debut human trials for the system - in December 2012.

The Limb Recovery System is designed to allow clinicians to isolate an infected lower limb from the larger circulatory system using catheters inserted into the major artery and vein of the limb. This allows clinicians to use higher doses of antibiotics than standard delivery mechanisms allow.

The technology was developed at Melbourne’s Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute and licensed to Osprey Medical.

Osprey Medical (ASX:OSP) shares were trading unchanged at $0.545 as of around 1 pm on Thursday