Resonance Health : Maylasian NAFLD - Diabetes Study

12 January 2017

Malaysian NAFLD-Diabetes Study - Progress Update

Resonance Health (ASX:RHT) is pleased to provide an update on the Company's participation in a study investigating the relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and diabetes in Malaysia. The benefits of Resonance Health's HepaFat-Scan and new pancreatic fat assessment technologies are being evaluated in the monitoring of the presence and severity of both liver disease and metabolic syndrome. This is expected to aid diagnosis and therapeutic decisions, whilst at the same time eliminating the need for expensive and painful needle biopsies. With an estimated global prevalence of NAFLD of 1.5 billion and type II diabetes of 380 million the market potential for these tests is extensive.

Resonance Health's Clinical Research Manager, Dr Sherif Boulos, commented:

"Evidence suggests that liver and pancreatic fat deposition leads to 'insulin resistance'; a metabolic disturbance that triggers diabetes and liver disease. The combination of HepaFat-Scan, for the measurement of volumetric liver fat fraction (VLFF), and pancreatic fat assessment is anticipated to help clinicians more reliably predict patients likely to develop non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH, a severe form of NAFLD) and / or progress more rapidly to cirrhosis.

For all patients in the study a liver needle biopsy with histopathological assessment to diagnose NASH is being performed and additional MRI data is being collected. This will allow Resonance Health to investigate the potential to develop further tests that may have significant application in this complex setting."

The study, termed the HIBISCUS study, is being led by the internationally renowned Hepatologist, Dr Wah Kheong Chan, of the University of Malaya and University of Malaya Medical Centre. Within the Asian region the adoption of a western lifestyle has led to a rapid increase in the presence of NAFLD, even in non-obese subjects. It is now thought to affect up to 30% of the general population in the Asia-Pacific region.

The study aims to recruit 100 subjects from a well-characterised pool of diabetic patients who regularly attend a large specialised diabetic clinic located in Kuala Lumpur. Commencing in October 2016, Resonance Health has already provided imaging analysis results for over 15 subjects. It is anticipated that recruitment of the study will be completed by the end of 2017, with results expected in the first half of 2018.

This important study will assist in the collection of evidence to support the clinical roll out of Resonance Health's HepaFat-Scan technology, the clinical application of the Company's new pancreatic fat assessment technology, and the potential to develop new clinical tools. Resonance Health is pleased that recruitment is progressing well as the Company moves forward with its strategy to offer the clinical community a combination of liver and pancreatic measurements to assist in diagnosing and monitoring liver disease and metabolic syndrome.

For further information please contact:

Sander Bangma

General Manager, Resonance Health

E: [e-mail] P: [phone]