Linde Healthcare Supports Innovation to Advance Respiratory Care

Pullach, Germany (ots/PRNewswire) -

- First Research Grants Awarded at Linde Healthcare REALfund
Event Monday 11 July in Munich, Germany

Linde Healthcare, a global business unit of The Linde Group,
today announced the first beneficiaries of the REALfund initiative.
The REALfund was set up in 2010 to support novel and innovative
research into the role of gases in three key areas: respiratory
medicine, acute pain management and gas-enabled wound care. Four
grantees - selected from over 30 applications - will receive a total
EUR 300,000 in funding.

Dr Christian Wojczewski, Head of Linde Healthcare, said: "Every
day, gases prove invaluable in the treatment of illnesses. The
current REALfund grants cover a wide range of intriguing innovative
research. For example: many patients with chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD) suffer from systemic muscle inflammation,
due to the increased work of breathing. The funded research will
investigate the relationship between oxygen supplementation and
inflammation, which has the potential to optimise the therapeutic
approach."

The funding will support the grantees to continue their
innovative research which aims to develop treatments that benefit
patients and caregivers. Dr Alice Margaret Wood, Birmingham
University, is researching how oxygen therapy can help patients with
COPD; Professor Gerd Döring, University of Tübingen, is researching
the use of nitric oxide in the treatment of infections for cystic
fibrosis; Professor Arne May, University of Hamburg, is investigating
the effect of oxygen on headaches, including migraines; and Dr Paul
Seddon, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust,is looking
at how new technology can be used to monitor patients' oxygen
saturation and heart rate from home rather than in hospital.

The REALfund scientific event is being attended by the REALfund
grantees, along with J. Kent Masters, Member of the Executive Board
of Linde AG, and a number of invited experts and key opinion leaders
in respiratory care.

About Linde Healthcare

Linde Healthcare is a global business unit of The Linde Group. It
is present in over 50 countries, and has been extensively involved in
the development of therapies and diagnostic procedures, where gases,
gas technology or gas competence is needed. In surgeries, emergency
services, intensive care, clinics and home care, the company offers a
broad spectrum of products and services to effectively support
medical practitioners and their patients. Linde Healthcare
co-operates with researchers in hospitals and universities as well as
a global network of physicians, clinicians and technicians working on
the frontlines.

About The Linde Group

The Linde Group is a world-leading gases and engineering company
with around 48,700 employees working in more than 100 countries
worldwide. In the 2010 financial year, it achieved sales of EUR
12.868 bn. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards
long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its
international business with forward-looking products and services.
Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners,
employees, society and the environment - in every one of its business
areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to
technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and
sustainable development.

For more information, see The Linde Group online at
http://www.linde.com.

ots Originaltext: Linde Healthcare
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Press Contact: For further information on the REALfund granteesor the
REALfund event, please contact Anne Mette Schrade using the
detailsbelow. Anne Mette Schrade, Head of Linde Healthcare
Communications, Phone:+49-89-7446-2247, Mobile: +49-177-876-5135,
E-mail:anne-mette.schrade@linde-gas.com