Holaira Hosts Educational Symposium on Targeted Lung Denervation (TLD) in Obstructive Lung Disease at ERS

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Sep 5, 2016) - Holaira, Inc., a developer of medical devices to treat obstructive lung diseases, announced it will host an educational symposium on the use of Targeted Lung Denervation* (TLD) in obstructive lung disease during the European Respiratory Society International Congress, Sept. 6, in London.

The program will be co-chaired by Alvar Agustí, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Thorax Institute at Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, and Professor Felix Herth, M.D., Ph.D., FCCP, Chairman, Division of Pulmonology and Respiratory Care Medicine, Thoarxklink, at the University of Heidelberg. In addition, three medical experts will present their findings on topics including: Cholinergic Pathways and the Limitations of Inhaled Therapeutics; Mechanism of Action and the Holaira™ Lung Denervation System; early results from the AIRFLOW-1 Trial on TLD in COPD patients; and discussion of the Asthma RELIEF-1 study, a new TLD indication.

"The data from the evaluation of TLD in COPD patients using Holaira's Lung Denervation system is very promising, as the procedure was well tolerated by patients and it demonstrates feasibility and safety," said Professor Herth. "Because COPD is a progressive disease that affects millions of people and places a significant financial burden on the system, it is imperative that we find alternative methods of treatment that may provide lasting, whole lung improvement.

"We are encouraged by this new COPD technology, which will now be evaluated in asthma patients as well. In addition, I am looking forward to the symposium panel discussion to learn about recent clinical experiences utilizing this exciting new technique," continued Professor Herth.

During the symposium Holaira will also be discussing the initiation of treatments in the AIRFLOW-2 Clinical Trial for patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using TLD. The first patients were treated using the Holaira™ Lung Denervation System under the direction of investigators, Christophe Pison, M.D., Ph.D., and Amandine Briault, M.D., at the Grenoble University Hospital Centre (CHUG) in France.

The AIRFLOW-2 (NCT#02058459) clinical trial is a randomized interventional study of bronchoscopic Targeted Lung Denervation using the Holaira Lung Denervation System, a catheter-based system developed to treat patients with moderate to severe COPD. The system's proprietary technology delivers targeted energy to disrupt nerve signals to the lungs using a process known as denervation. The AIRFLOW-2 trial follows completion of the AIRFLOW-1 trial earlier this year and is currently underway at 16 institutions throughout Western Europe. It is the first randomized clinical trial with a sham control for TLD.