McGrath gets his teeth into the continent

AN EDINBURGH-based firm that has developed a revolutionary video laryngoscope is aiming to have full European product coverage within 18 months after signing a multi-million-pound Italian distribution deal.

Aircraft Medical's handheld device, below, allows hospital staff and paramedics to intubate patients more easily without damaging teeth, tissue or vocal chords. Its inventor, Matt McGrath, put the unit into production last year after spending five years perfecting the design.

Yesterday's agreement with Viglia will provide exclusive distribution rights in Italy until 2012 and is expected to generate revenues "in excess of" 7 million (£4.8m) for the Scots firm. It follows a major US contract last summer, potentially worth up to £25m, and a smaller one covering Canada, which was signed earlier this year.

McGrath, whose name adorns the device, said discussions were ongoing with distributors in other key European markets.

"Over the next 12 to 18 months, we are aiming to have full coverage in Europe," he noted. "Worldwide, we've had something like 250 distribution companies approach us."

He added that it was "early doors" with the North American deal, as the units had only been shipping to the US since the end of 2006.

McGrath founded Aircraft Medical in 2001 after starting work on his design two years earlier as part of a university degree course.

To date, intubation in adults has been attempted almost exclusively with the Macintosh laryngoscope - a design dating back to the 1940s.

Aircraft Medical hopes its new device, which features a single-use adjustable blade and integrated video screen and runs off just one AA battery, will reduce the risks associated with the intubation process.

Of the 100 million general anaesthetics carried out globally each year, around 60 million patients are intubated with the use of a laryngoscope. However, botched intubations can cause brain damage and even death.

Marketing of the McGrath laryngoscope is aimed at operating theatres, critical care units and accident and emergency departments. Its inventor, who was named John Logie Baird Young Innovator of the Year in 2001, said the Italian healthcare market was a "challenging" one to break into.

"The deal with Viglia represents an important step for Aircraft Medical as we start to widen distribution in Europe", he added. "Viglia has excellent local market knowledge across Italy and ambitious sales targets which closely match ours."

While the manufacture of the components used in the McGrath laryngoscope is outsourced to a number of partners and suppliers, the final assembly process takes place at the Scottish manufacturing facility of US-owned Galgon Industries.