Sphere Medical, a provider of medical diagnostic and monitoring devices for intensive care and operating theatre environments, has officially opened a new commercial production facility in St Asaph, Denbighshire, Wales.
Edwina Hart, Minister for Economy, Science and Transport for the Welsh Government carried out the official opening.
The new facility includes a state-of-the-art cleanroom and will provide capacity to meet the expected growing demand for the Proxima patient-dedicated blood gas analyser over the coming years. Later this year, the firm will launch the Proxima 4, the next-generation device currently undergoing CE marking.
The firm says Proxima 4 will make closer nursing possible during a patient’s critical period, delivering faster and more frequent blood gas results. Furthermore, blood is drawn directly from the patient into the Proxima sensor for analysis and all blood is then returned to the patient; this avoids blood loss and reduces infection risks to a broad patient demographic, including paediatric patients.
Last year Sphere raised £13.2m to fund its expansion including funds from Woodford Investment Management and the Wales Fund.
Wolfgang Rencken, Chief Executive of Sphere Medical, said: 'The official opening of our new manufacturing facility marks a significant moment for Sphere as we prepare to start commercial production; our dedicated sales force is now marketing Proxima directly to the critical care market and we are pleased to report news of our first sale of Proxima 3 to the University Medical Centre in Göttingen, Germany, in January, for the close management of unstable critically ill patients.'
