Linde Healthcare Supports Innovation to Advance Respiratory Care

PULLACH, Germany, July 11, 2011 -

- 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 href="www.linde.com/">www.linde.com.

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