Australian startup developing world’s first affordable dialysis system

MedTech News: The world’s first affordable dialysis system is being developed by Ellen Medical Devices, an initiative of The George Institute for Global Health and a George Health company, to prevent unnecessarily deaths due to a lack of access to kidney failure treatment.

Ten million people in the world need dialysis for terminal kidney failure, but only 2.6 million have access to it. These findings paint a grim picture with the number of people needing treatment predicted to double to over five million by 2030.

Dialysis machines purify the blood, replacing an essential function of the kidneys. They cost US$10-20,000 or more each and need to be attached to elaborate water purification systems which often cost the same again, according to The George Institute.

The current major players in the Australian kidney dialysis market involve Baxter, Fresenius and B. Braun accounting for about 70% of the market in 2021.

To tackle this challenge, The George Institute, the International Society of Nephrology and the Asia Pacific Society of Nephrology, supported by the Farrell Family Foundation, launched a world-wide competition, with a prize of US$100,000 to design the world’s first truly affordable dialysis system.

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Costing under $300 to build and just a few dollars a day to run, the Ellen Medical Dialysis System is a breakthrough in low-cost technology, which can not only treat chronic kidney failure patients for many years but also provide life-saving acute dialysis in an intensive care setting. Its low manufacturing and transport costs radically reduce the greenhouse gas burden of dialysis treatment. Point of care peritoneal dialysis will open up opportunities for millions of patients to access treatment for the first time, particularly in developing countries and remote geographies.

Final bench testing and small-scale manufacture of the Ellen Medical Dialysis System are now underway in NSW, with clinical trials next planned for Sydney, India, Thailand, and Hong Kong over the next two years.

Due to launch in 2024, it is expected that at least 10,000 patients will be receiving Ellen Medical Dialysis by 2026.

Ellen Medical Devices has been supported by multi-million-dollar strategic grants, most recently the recipient of $427,000 in funding from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre’s Commercialisation Fund.