Mauna Kea Technologies Announces Highlights of 5th Annual International Conference of Cellvizio® Users (ICCU)

PARIS--(Marketwired - April 23, 2013) - Mauna Kea Technologies (NYSE Euronext: MKEA), leader in the optical biopsy market and developer of Cellvizio®, the fastest way to see cancer, today announced highlights from the 5th Annual International Conference of Cellvizio Users (ICCU) held in Versailles, France, from April 5 to 7. Over 200 international optical biopsy experts -- a 70% increase in attendance over the 2012 meeting -- representing 17 countries and a variety of specialties including digestive endoscopy, pulmonology, urology, surgery, otorhinolaryngology, pathology and pre-clinical research gathered to review and discuss the latest research and impact of optical biopsy on clinical care.

"Physicians across specialties and continents are using optical biopsies to diagnose their patients more effectively and efficiently. Years of data on optical biopsies have been generated to validate the use of optical biopsies in digestive disease. It is incredibly exciting to see new research on the use of optical biopsy in lung and urogenital diseases, as well as in surgical applications," said ICCU co-chair Marc Giovannini, MD, Head of Endoscopy Unit, Paoli-Calmettes Institute, Marseilles, France. "We are also thrilled to see that pathologists are becoming an integral part of the development and adoption of optical biopsy, and that pre-clinical researchers constantly feed the improvements in patient management through a truly translational approach."

This year's program included presentations of new research showing that optical biopsies improve the accuracy and/or efficiency of the diagnostic process for diseases such as esophageal, colorectal, pancreatic, lung and bladder cancer, as well as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). In addition, data on new optical biopsy applications in robotic prostatectomy, neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, enteric nervous system visualization, and portal hypertension were presented.

The multi-disciplinary audience also agreed on key success factors to implementing optical biopsy programs such as consistent, institutional training and patient management algorithms in digestive diseases.

A panel of 25 select experts at ICCU developed draft consensus statements for use of optical biopsies in Barrett's esophagus, biliary strictures, colon polyps and IBD. The statements will then be voted on and published to serve as a basis for guideline development.

"The 5th Annual ICCU was not only a success for reviewing optical biopsy research and data for current indications, but also produced excellent exchanges between a record breaking number of world-renowned, international, multi-disciplinary Cellvizio users across a dozen specialties," said Sacha Loiseau, CEO and Founder of Mauna Kea Technologies. "In addition to this year's groundbreaking research, consensus statements, once validated, will help standardize the decision-making process to limit variability in Cellvizio use among physicians and to ensure that adequate training is performed appropriately for each indication. As optical biopsies continue to grow as a standard of care, Mauna Kea Technologies strives to be ahead of the curve with new indications, research, and protocols for continued success."

Along with Prof. Giovannini, this year's ICCU was co-chaired by Kenneth Wang, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN and future President of the ASGE (American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy); Pierre Vincent, PhD, Research Group Leader Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France; and Ronald Wang, MD, Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

About Mauna Kea Technologies
Mauna Kea Technologies is a global medical device company dedicated to the advent of optical biopsy. The company researches, develops and markets innovative tools to visualize and detect cellular abnormalities during endoscopic procedures. Its flagship product, Cellvizio®, a probe-based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (pCLE) system, provides physicians and researchers high-resolution cellular views of tissue inside the body. Large, international, multicenter clinical trials have demonstrated Cellvizio's ability to help physicians more accurately detect early forms of disease and make treatment decisions immediately. Designed to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs within a hospital, Cellvizio can be used with almost any endoscope. Cellvizio has 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European CE-Mark for use in the GI tract, biliary and pancreatic ducts and lungs.

For more information on Mauna Kea Technologies, visit www.maunakeatech.com

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