MEA December 2017

28 MEA MARKETS / December 2017 , Obesity Rate inUAE is Estimated to be Twice theWorldwide Rate. ReShape Lifesciences Announces Stocking Order fromMedical Supplier in Dubai ReShape Lifesciences is a medical device company focused on technology to treat obesity and metabolic diseases. vBloc® Neurometabolic Therapy, delivered by an FDA- approved pacemaker-like device called the vBloc System, is designed to help patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40-45, or 35-39.9 with a minimum of one related comorbid condition, feel full, eat less and lose weight by intermittently blocking hunger signals on the vagus nerve. The FDA-approved ReShape ® Integrated Dual Balloon System involves a non-surgical weight loss procedure that uses advanced interconnected balloon technology designed to take up room in the stomach to help people with a 30-40 BMI, and at least one co-morbidity, lose weight. The Gastric Vest™ System is an investigational, minimally invasive, laparoscopically implanted medical device that wraps around the stomach, emulating the gastric volume reduction effect of conventional weight-loss surgery, and is intended to enable rapid weight loss in obese and morbidly obese patients without permanently changing patient anatomy. ReShape Lifesciences Inc., as a developer of minimally invasive medical devices to treat obesity and metabolic diseases announced today that it has received a significant order for its ReShape® Integrated Dual Balloon System from Al Zahrawi Medical, a healthcare focused company specializing in medical, surgical, diagnostic and analytical lab and nuclear medicine supplies with presence throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar. This order, the second since Al Zawhari’s initial stocking order in August 2017, is to support increased demand for the Reshape Integrated Dual Balloon System from a leading hospital customer’s growing bariatric program in Dubai. Obesity in the UAE has been estimated to be twice the worldwide rate. While close to 30% of the global population is estimated to be obese, according to a University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation report from 2013, more than 66% of men and 60% of women in the UAE were estimated to be obese. Over 5,000 weight loss surgeries were performed in the UAE in 2015, an increase of more than 30% from 2014, as reported by the Emirates Obesity Association under the Emirates Medical Association.