Singapore: Singapore's AWAK Technologies has entered into an exclusive agreement with Baxter International for the development of innovative wearable dialysis technology. The agreement enables AWAK to continue the development of its investigational peritoneal dialysis-based automated wearable artificial kidney.

AWAK Technologies is a research-focused, medical technology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of unique sorbent-based dialysis regeneration technology for wearable and portable dialysis technology used in the treatment of end-stage renal disease. The company is a leader in the miniaturization of dialysis technology and their sorbent technology is a key component for dialysate regeneration and it is used in its investigational peritoneal dialysis-based automated wearable artificial kidney.

"As an innovative and technology driven company, we focused on bringing a game-changing technology to meet the needs of dialysis patients around the world," said Dr Gordon Ku, chairman of AWAK Technologies. "Our agreement with Baxter brings us a step closer to bringing a wearable artificial kidney to market."

The global dialysis industry is projected to reach $85 billion in 2015. The number of patients is projected to increase from 3.5 million in 2015 to four million by 2020. Numerous initiatives by the government recently, such as outcome-based reimbursement and cost reductions, will see migration of patients from existing center-based dialysis to portable and mobile dialysis.

"As a long-recognized global leader in dialysis, Baxter is the right company to help AWAK fulfill its vision of delivering freedom to dialysis patients worldwide and improving their quality of life," said Mr NEO Kok-Beng, president and CEO, AWAK Technologies. "This agreement will advance our ability to grow and to bring a break-through technology to the marketplace."

"Our agreement with Baxter is part of our overall strategy to bring innovative technologies for dialysis treatment to market that include collaborations and licensing agreements with academia including the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore as well as working cooperatively with government agencies in the US and Singapore; such as the US' Veteran Affairs Innovation Initiative (VAi2), SPRING Singapore and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore," Mr Neo added.