High noon for Queensland company in US business Shoot Out

Brisbane medical device company ImpediMed will come out with all guns blazing at the annual Innovation Shoot Out in San Francisco tomorrow (15 January USA).

The ImpediMed device is designed for accurate and early detection by medical professionals of the painful condition Lymphoedema, or fluid build-up in the arms of breast cancer survivors.

Minister for Trade John Mickel and Tourism, Regional Development and Industry Minister Desley Boyle said today that ImpediMed would go to the Shoot Out against five other Australian finalist companies armed with world-class technology designed to help cancer survivors worldwide.

“The Shoot Out is a competition for innovative Australian businesses and is again being run as part of the G'Day USA Australia Week 2009 celebrations,”Mr Mickel said.

“Representing Queensland in this prestigious Shoot Out event, ImpediMed’s ammunition will be the Queensland-designed, state-of-the-art, L-Dex U400 device,”

Ms Boyle said that the L-Dex U400 works by passing a low frequency current through the limbs to measure and compare the extra cellular fluid levels.

“With Lymphoedema currently affecting more than 100 000 women recovering from breast cancer in Australia alone, and millions of women and men worldwide, ImpediMed has developed a product that will meet an incredibly large and vital need,” Ms Boyle said.

Mr Mickel said that 2009 was the third year that Australian companies are taking part in the Shoot Out, judged before a panel of US venture capitalists and private equity business leaders.

“The Innovation Shoot Out is sponsored and supported by the State Government to help our innovative, smart Queensland businesses crack the US market,” Mr Mickel said.

ImpediMed received $115 000 from the Queensland Government through the Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry to help obtain regulatory approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration for the L-Dex U400 device. The company recently received this clearance enabling them to launch the device into the US market.

Trade Queensland has assisted ImpediMed with in-market export assistance from its Los Angeles office. The Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry and Trade Queensland supplied funding for the company’s entry to the Innovation Shoot Out this year and also provided Mentoring for Export coaching sessions in preparation for the event.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh opened ImpediMed's new San Diego office in July 2008.

15 January 2009

Media contact: Minister Mickel 3237 1944

Minister Boyle 3224 2007 or 3225 1005