CLEVELAND, Illinois and ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands, May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Cardialysis BV today announced that the Companies have the intention to found Cardialysis Cleveland to provide combined clinical drug development and medical imaging services to clients that are developing therapeutics or medical devices for cardiovascular indications in world wide studies.

University Hospitals Case Medical Center is the primary hospital of Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine, a premier biomedical research institution in the United States. University Hospitals Heart & Vascular Institute is dedicated to breakthrough medical advancements and practices to deliver superior cardiac and vascular clinical outcomes. A world renowned team of physician investigators has been assembled to capitalize on the basic science and biotechnology tradition of CWRU. The Cardiovascular Imaging Core Lab is leading the development of novel imaging technologies, such as OCT (optical coherence tomography) and cardiac MRI, and applied methodologies for clinical trials.

Cardialysis is a full service Academic Contract Research Organization and a leading provider of imaging core laboratory and clinical event adjudication services for studies in cardiac device and other cardiovascular indications. Cardialysis provides centralized expert evaluations of medical images from multi-modality environments including angiography, IVUS (intra vascular ultrasound) and IVUS related techniques (such as virtual histology and palpography), OCT, MRI, MSCT (multi slice computer tomography), ECHO and PV-loop.

The collaboration will focus on founding Cardialysis-Cleveland, a core lab with globally standardized Code Federal Regulations chapter 21 part 11 compliant technologies enabling global large-scale trials and registries in the coronary and peripheral vascular devices as well as in drug trials. The combined expertise of the companies will provide clients with an integrated team dedicated to clinical development and biomedical imaging and streamline project and data management processes.

"The combination of University Hospitals Case Medical Center's cutting-edge translational research and biotechnology and Cardialysis' expertise in cardiovascular imaging will benefit clients today and in the future as new techniques improve our ability to study cardiovascular diseases," commented Dr. Daniel I. Simon, Director, Heart & Vascular Institute, and Herman K. Hellerstein Professor of Medicine. "We look forward to leveraging the strong academic collaboration between Professor Serruys, Erasmus MC, Professor Costa, CWRU and Cardialysis."

"The alliance between Cardialysis and University Hospitals Case Medical Center matches perfectly with our clients' wish to use the most innovative imaging core laboratory techniques in their global cardiovascular studies. Moreover, the integrated teams will facilitate fast and clear communication through all phases of the study," said Kees Groenhout, CEO of Cardialysis.

About University Hospitals

With 150 locations throughout Northeast Ohio, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of hospitals, outpatient centers and primary care physicians. At the core of our Health System is University Hospitals Case Medical Center. The primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, University Hospitals Case Medical Center is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research centers of excellence in the nation and the world, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics and spine, radiology and radiation oncology, neurosurgery and neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, organ transplantation and human genetics. Its main campus includes the internationally celebrated Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked best in the Midwest and first in the nation for the care of critically ill newborns; MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and Ireland Cancer Center, which holds the nation's highest designation by the National Cancer Institute of Comprehensive Cancer Center. For more information, go to http://www.uhhospitals.org

About Cardialysis BV

Cardialysis is an independent Contract Research Organization (CRO) specializing in cardiovascular disease. Cardialysis describes its role as a CRO as being a catalyst to industry and investigators in clinical practice in the setting up of and the supporting of development processes. In this role, Cardialysis focuses on meeting quality standards, budget and time constraints. The ultimate objective is to help customers obtain product approval and achieve a marketable product and market acceptance. This is strongly facilitated by the available expertise, the well developed network of key opinion leaders, as well as the availability of the most innovative core lab imaging techniques. For more information, please visit their website at http://www.cardialysis.com.

University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Contact: Prof. Marco Costa. Cardialysis BV: Contact: Michael Koenders (Manager Business Development), Phone: +31(0)10-2062802, cell phone: +31(0)6-53341977, E-mail: mkoenders@cardialysis.nl. Note to Editors: Contact person: M.J. Koenders, Manager Business Development, Cardialysis BV, Tel.: +31(0)10-2062802, GSM: +31(0)6-53341977, E-mail: mkoenders@cardialysis.nl