LUNGguard™ Donor Lung Preservation System delivers advanced lung preservation to transplant teams at a critical moment

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, January 6, 2020- Paragonix Technologies, the leading hypothermic cardiothoracic organ preservation provider, announced today the clinical and commercial launch of the LUNGguard™ Donor Lung Preservation System in both the USA and in Europe.

The LUNGguard System provides a highly controlled, state-of-the art environment for hypothermic lung preservation, coupled with real-time digital monitoring to safeguard donor lungs throughout the entire transplant journey from donor patients to transplant recipients. Paragonix’s centralized communication and data transfer capabilities are fully compatible with and integrated into the usage of LUNGguard. This system is based on the same architecture as the award-winning Paragonix SherpaPak™ Cardiac Transport System that has successfully transported over 500 donor hearts since clinical launch in 2018.

The LUNGguard System represents a radical advance over the use of ice and off-the-shelf coolers that have been the standard-of-care for over 50 years of organ transplantation. For the first time, transplant teams will have access to an FDA cleared and CE marked hypothermic lung preservation device.

The development of this system has been supported by a collaboration with one of the biggest lung transplant patient advocacy groups in the world, the Lung Transplant Foundation. “The need for this device has never been greater. We sought out a collaboration with Paragonix because we saw first-hand the significant challenges in lung transplantation and just how impactful this technology could be,” said Jeffery Goldstein, President and Founder of the Lung Transplant Foundation. “The coronavirus pandemic has added new challenges for the patients we advocate for and work with, and this good news couldn’t come at a better time.”

“Today we are learning a new paradigm of broader geographic sharing in lung transplantation. Current standard cold storage remains rooted in the past and does not adequately address the extensive travel and longer transport times now experienced by many lung transplant centers. The LUNGguard system provides a possible cost-effective enhancement over today’s current practice. It’s past time lung preservation enters the modern era,” says Matthew Hartwig, MD, MHS, Chief of Lung Transplant Research at Duke University Health System.

“We are incredibly grateful for the support of the Lung Transplant Foundation and our partner clinicians who have helped get us to this point,” said Bill Edelman, Chairman & CEO of Paragonix Technologies. “Based on clinician interest and requests, our teams have been working tirelessly to accelerate the availability of the LUNGguard System to help ensure that every donor lung arrives in the best possible condition for a transplant patient who needs it. Right now, we are coordinating with several centers to support the initial clinical cases with this system.”