HP Licenses Technology to Home Dialysis Plus for Development of Portable Home Dialysis Machine

HP (NYSE:HPQ) and Home Dialysis Plus, Ltd. (HD+), a developer of devices and products for kidney dialysis, today announced a licensing agreement to enable dialysis patients to more easily integrate dialysis into their daily lives.

Using HP’s patented inkjet technology, HD+ plans to develop a portable, cost-effective dialysis system that allows patients to experience the benefits of nightly nocturnal dialysis (http://www.homedialysisplus.com/nocturnal.html) in the privacy of their own homes.

HP’s inkjet technology will be used within HD+’s dialysis machine proportioning system to mix the correct amount of water and concentrated dialysate (a salt and electrolyte solution) in real time, and pump the dialysis solution into the dialyzer. Mixing the solution in real time helps to filter toxins over a longer period. In addition, HP’s smart memory chip technology will be used to ensure that the correct dialysate prescription is being delivered consistently so dialysis can take place while the patient is sleeping.

"With an increasing emphasis on home health care as a more cost-effective and efficient alternative, the new home dialysis machine will be a true breakthrough,” said Michael Baker, chief executive officer of Home Dialysis Plus, which is based in Portland, Ore. "HP technology is critical to creating a unique patient experience that will offer ease of use and improved patient outcomes and life expectancy.”

These technological advances are expected to afford patients a slower and more accurate nocturnal dialysis treatment that is more in tune with the body’s natural biological processes and that will dramatically reduce a patient’s post-treatment recovery time from hours to minutes.

The technology also is expected to offer a significantly smaller and easier-to-use option for portable and flexible care of dialysis needs at any location with access to a water source. For health care providers, the dialysis machine should make it much easier and cheaper to train patients how to perform their treatments, with a helper, at home. The cost of implementing the HD+ system also is expected to be much lower than the cost of shipping prepackaged dialysate solutions.

Under the agreement, HP will license its intellectual property to HD+ in return for royalty payments. HD+ will develop, manufacture and sell the product, which the company expects to be commercially available worldwide by the end of 2010.

"HP’s IP licensing program helps ensure that important technologies get to market through innovative companies like Home Dialysis Plus,” said Kevin Light, vice president, Intellectual Property and Licensing Group, HP. "We continually look for technology licensing opportunities within the health and life sciences industry and a variety of other markets so consumers can receive the benefits of these inventions.”

More information on HP’s intellectual property licensing program is available at www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/iplicensing/.

About Home Dialysis Plus, Ltd.

Home Dialysis Plus, Ltd. (HD+) is focused on the advancement of home hemodialysis treatment for patients suffering from end-stage renal disease. Via the use of patented microtechnology-based energy and chemical systems (MECS), the company aims to produce home treatment options that will offer improved health outcomes through ultra-patient-friendly, portable hemodialysis machines. More information is available at http://www.homedialysisplus.com/.

About HP

HP, the world’s largest technology company, provides printing and personal computing products and IT services, software and solutions that simplify the technology experience for consumers and businesses. HP completed its acquisition of EDS on Aug. 26, 2008. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com/.

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