Linde Healthcare Supports Innovation to Advance Respiratory Care

PULLACH, Germany, July 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- First Research Grants Awarded at Linde Healthcare REALfund Event Monday 11 July in Munich, Germany

Linde Healthcare, a global business unit of The Linde Group, today announced the first beneficiaries of the REALfund initiative. The REALfund was set up in 2010 to support novel and innovative research into the role of gases in three key areas: respiratory medicine, acute pain management and gas-enabled wound care. Four grantees - selected from over 30 applications - will receive a total EUR 300,000 in funding.  

Dr Christian Wojczewski, Head of Linde Healthcare, said: "Every day, gases prove invaluable in the treatment of illnesses. The current REALfund grants cover a wide range of intriguing innovative research. For example: many patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) suffer from systemic muscle inflammation, due to the increased work of breathing. The funded research will investigate the relationship between oxygen supplementation and inflammation, which has the potential to optimise the therapeutic approach."

The funding will support the grantees to continue their innovative research which aims to develop treatments that benefit patients and caregivers. Dr Alice Margaret Wood, Birmingham University, is researching how oxygen therapy can help patients with COPD; Professor Gerd Döring, University of Tübingen, is researching the use of nitric oxide in the treatment of infections for cystic fibrosis; Professor Arne May, University of Hamburg, is investigating the effect of oxygen on headaches, including migraines; and Dr Paul Seddon, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust,is looking at how new technology can be used to monitor patients' oxygen saturation and heart rate from home rather than in hospital.  

The REALfund scientific event is being attended by the REALfund grantees, along with J. Kent Masters, Member of the Executive Board of Linde AG, and a number of invited experts and key opinion leaders in respiratory care.

About Linde Healthcare

Linde Healthcare is a global business unit of The Linde Group. It is present in over 50 countries, and has been extensively involved in the development of therapies and diagnostic procedures, where gases, gas technology or gas competence is needed. In surgeries, emergency services, intensive care, clinics and home care, the company offers a broad spectrum of products and services to effectively support medical practitioners and their patients. Linde Healthcare co-operates with researchers in hospitals and universities as well as a global network of physicians, clinicians and technicians working on the frontlines.

About The Linde Group

The Linde Group is a world-leading gases and engineering company with around 48,700 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. In the 2010 financial year, it achieved sales of EUR 12.868 bn. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment - in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.

For more information, see The Linde Group online at http://www.linde.com.