MEMPHASYS & HYDRIX RECEIVE GOOD DESIGN AWARDS FOR FELIX™ DEVICE

Highlights  

  • Memphasys and Hydrix recognised for engineering excellence at the Good Design Awards.
  • The device has received a Gold Good Design Award for engineering design and a Good Design Award for product design in the medical and scientific category.
  • The Good Design Awards is one of the oldest and most prestigious, globally recognised design awards.

Australian-based bio-separations company Memphasys Limited (ASX: MEM) (“Memphasys” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce the Company and its product development partner, Hydrix Limited (ASX: HYD), have been jointly named recipients of two 2020 Good Design Awards for the FelixTM device, the first automated, non-DNA damaging lab instrument for sperm separation.

The Felix device, a unique instrument with proprietary, patented technology for quickly separating high quality sperm from a semen sample for use in human IVF procedures, won a Gold Good Design Award for the Engineering Design category and a Good Design Award for Product Design, Medical and Scientific category.

The Felix device consists of a console as well as single-use cartridges which contain the cell separation technology (see Figure 1). The cartridges combine an electrophoresis technology with size exclusion-based membranes, patented hydrogels, and other polymer membranes to separate sperm cells from semen samples.

Australia’s annual Good Design Awards program is one of the oldest and most prestigious, globally recognised international design awards, promoting excellence in design and innovation since 1958. The Good Design Awards are recognised by the World Design Organization (WDO) as Australia’s peak international design endorsement program.

In assessing the product, the Good Design Awards jury praised Memphasys and Hydrix, stating:  

“This is a beautifully simple device that performs complex biological manipulation, all within a neatly designed cartridge.  

“It addresses an important problem, namely improving the likelihood of conception through IVF. The intended impact to improved rates of fertility is commended.  

“The compact nature of the design and its miniaturization is also commended”.  

Commenting on the award, Memphasys Executive Chair Alison Coutts said:  

“I am thrilled that Memphasys and Hydrix have been recognised with such a prestigious award for all of the hard work conducted to date on the Felix device.  

“The device is a world-first technology, so it is highly encouraging when independent assessors review the design and deem the device to be an example of class-leading engineering.”  

This announcement has been approved for release by the board of Memphasys Limited.