Mauna Kea Technologies Announces the Opening of the First Italian Center of Excellence for the Use of Cellvizio® to Identify and Treat Food Intolerance in Adults
Italy becomes the third country to launch a Cellvizio Center of Excellence following the Metrodora Institute in the U.S. and several other centers in Germany
Another key milestone in a global initiative to expand centers for Cellvizio Food Intolerance programs in key countries
Paris and Boston, April 2, 2024 – 5:45 p.m. CEST – Mauna Kea Technologies (Euronext Growth: ALMKT), inventor of Cellvizio®, the multidisciplinary probe and needle-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (p/nCLE) platform, today announced the opening of the first Italian Center of Excellence for the use of Cellvizio to identify and treat food intolerances in adult patients suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The Cellvizio Food Intolerance Test (C-FIT) is now performed by Dr. Alberto Larghi, a leading Gastroenterologist, at the UPMC Salvator Mundi International Hospital in Rome, Italy.
With the introduction of C-FIT, Mauna Kea Technologies is setting a new standard in the accurate, real-time diagnosis of food intolerance, a condition that affects millions of people worldwide, often without proper diagnosis. In Italy in particular, the number of patients looking for solutions in this area is very high with over 1 million food intolerance related internet searches per month, more than in Germany and France.
This initiative at the UPMC Salvator Mundi International Hospital is part of a global strategic expansion plan to establish Centers of Excellence, building on Metrodora Institute's establishment in March1, which are set to spearhead the rapid adoption of the practice across several key countries.
"We are very excited to have UPMC Salvator Mundi International Hospital serve as our Center of Excellence for the Cellvizio Food Intolerance Test in Italy, another significant step forward in the scaling of the use of Cellvizio in the ever-expanding food intolerance market. Our ambition in this field is very high, and opening two reference centers in less than two months in two major countries for IBS is a testament to our determination to be at the forefront of gastrointestinal health services", said Sacha Loiseau, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mauna Kea Technologies. "There is an urgent, unmet need for the immense pool of IBS patients who endure debilitating daily complications. We are very pleased with the strong interest from a growing number of hospitals and clinics to launch a Food Intolerance Program with Cellvizio as its central component."
“Many patients live with undiagnosed food intolerances, simply because existing testing methods cannot identify the underlying issues. The Cellvizio Food Intolerance procedure is a simple, visual and clinically proven way to determine whether the patient has a previously undetected food intolerance. I couldn’t be more excited to be the first in Italy to perform this procedure and to establish the first Center of Excellence in our country”, said Dr. Alberto Larghi, Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy Specialist. “My vision is that by adopting novel technologies like Cellvizio, we can collectively improve the lives of the patients we serve.”
