PRESS RELEASE - EMBARGO TILL MIDNIGHT Monday 4th October 2010 Matt McGrath of Aircraft Medical is the winner

of the 2010 Gannochy Trust Innovation Award of the Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) has announced that Matt McGrath (32), founder of life sciences firm Aircraft Medical, is to receive the 2010 Gannochy Trust Innovation Award of the RSE on 5th October. Matts company, Aircraft Medical, has developed the worlds first fully portable video laryngoscope which has already been used in over 250,000 cases around the world and saved lives. This technological innovation, developed in Scotland, is designed to address the risk of failure to deliver oxygen to a patient once they have received a general anaesthetic prior to surgery. The McGrath Series 5 video laryngoscope is the worlds first to be fully portable meaning it can be used in a great variety of clinical settings, including emergency settings in the field. The Gannochy Trust Innovation Award of the RSE is the highest accolade for individual achievement in innovation in Scotland and carries a prize of 50,000 cash which the winner can invest in any way he or she wishes. There is also a specially commissioned gold medal. Matt McGrath was born and grew up on the island of Benbecula, in the Western Isles, and was educated at Kingussie High School before leaving Scotland for university in Newcastle. Part of his academic life included working in industry and Matt spent six months in New York City in a design consultancy. It was while he was there that he read the laryngoscope design brief and, 10 years on, the McGrath brand is one of the best known names in the USA in medical anaesthesia circles for having developed and improved existing technology for use in hospital theatres. In June 2001 Matt returned to Scotland to commercialise his product and found his own company, Aircraft Medical. His vision was to build a full infrastructure medical devices company and he has more than achieved that. His company is presently working in 30 countries and has recently secured large contracts in China and Russia. The firm is based in Dalgety Bay, Fife with small teams also working in Barcelona on research, and across the USA in customer service. Each year tens of millions of people around the world undergo a medical procedure called tracheal intubation, allowing a trained medical professional to artificially take control of the patients breathing. Intubation using a laryngoscope requires a fully qualified anaesthetist or paramedic to insert a tube through a patients vocal chords and into their trachea (the vessel which carries air into the lungs). Due to shortfalls of existing equipment and the level of skill required, several million difficult intubations are experienced each year. Difficult intubates have an increased risk of patient trauma, broken teeth, cross contamination and, in severe cases, brain damage and death. Matts product, the McGRATH Series 5, is designed specifically to improve efficiency in global practice, allowing users to intubate as normal but with far less force, with greater ease and much higher levels of success, particularly in more difficult intubations. The original prototypes for the McGRATH laryngoscope attracted the highest award from the RSA as recognition of outstanding design achievement. The company subsequently attracted industry awards from the Audi Design Foundation, The Princes Trust, Scottish

Executive and Scottish Enterprise, and today is backed by The Wellcome Trust, Private Equity and RBS. Matt was highlighted in 2001 by Scottish Enterprise as Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and as emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2006, by the Entrepreneurial Exchange in Scotland. Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, President of The Royal Society of Edinburgh, said I am delighted to announce that Matt McGrath of Aircraft Medical is the recipient of the 2010 Gannochy Trust Innovation Award of the RSE. His McGRATH Series 5 laryngoscope has already saved lives around the world and we know that he plans to use the prize money to identify other products which will deal with clinical needs in anaesthesia. This Award seeks to encourage younger people to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology and research which promote Scotlands inventiveness internationally. It also recognises outstanding individual achievement which contributes to the common good of Scotland. Independent research has confirmed that since this Award was first created, the 600,000 provided by the Gannochy Trust to support previous winners has created 4m of additional value to the Scottish economy. This is no mean feat. Scotland is famous the world over for its talent. Scottish inventors have produced penicillin, the telephone, the television, and pneumatic tyres to list a few. The contribution of such skill to Scotlands economy and well being is enormous. Mark Webster, chairman of The Gannochy Trust said: Matt McGrath has made a huge contribution to medical products. His interest and purpose has been to design and bring to production devices which would improve medical procedures to assist the treatment and therefore the welfare of the patient. He has been tenacious to an extraordinary extent, in reality in a philanthropic way which mirrors well the purpose of this Trust and in particular those of The Gannochy Trust Innovation Award of the RSE. I am delighted that he is the 2010 winner of the award and I wish him well as he seeks to use the prize to further his aims and hopefully bring other products to the market. Says Matt McGrath I am very grateful to The Royal Society of Edinburgh and to the Gannochy Trust for this award, and for the recognition of the social and economic significance of the McGrath video laryngoscope. The prize will be invested in a research project to identify unmet clinical needs in anaesthesia and critical care practice. The project will aim to identify and establish a new development project with global potential, to follow in the footsteps of the video laryngoscope. The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotlands National Academy of Science and Letters. It was founded in 1783 by Royal Charter for the advancement of learning and useful knowledge. It has 1500 Fellows whose expertise encompasses the full spectrum of sciences, medicine, engineering and technology, education, law, the arts, humanities, social sciences, business, industry, the professions and public service. This multi-disciplinary perspective makes the RSE unique amongst the UKs learned societies. The Gannochy Trust is a grant-making trust founded in 1937 by Arthur Kinmond Bell, whisky distiller and philanthropist. Past winners of this prestigious award include Dr Andrew Mearns Spragg and Dr Marie Claire Parker. Dr Marie Claire Parker of XstalBio Ltd in Glasgow developed winning technology which has the potential to deliver insulin to diabetes sufferers without the need for self injection. Dr Spragg, of Aquapharm Bio Discovery in Oban, developed new technology making compounds from a new species of marine micro-organism which have the potential to make an important contribution to the fight against hospital acquired infections such as MRSA. www.royalsoced.org.uk www.aircraftmedical.com

ENDS This information and further details from: Carol Anderson, The Business tel 0131 718 6022, e: carola@thebusinesspr.co.uk mobile 07836 546 256 The Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotlands National Academy, is Scottish Charity No. SC000470 Editors notes: Matt McGrath Aircraft Medical Aircraft medical is a developer and producer of high quality medical devices for the modern healthcare environment. The company aims to enhance the skills of medical professionals, not replace them, reducing patient trauma, helping to eliminate cross contamination and improve communication and efficiency in the clinical training environment. The patented McGRATH Series 5 has a variable length and single-use optical blade to help eliminate cross infection and to suit virtually all patients. A steel bodied CameraStick is protected by the disposable blade and a clear image is transferred to the compact LCD mounted at the top of the handle. The novel design uses a rechargeable AA battery held within the handle to power the device giving up to 2 hours of use. These features ensure the McGRATH is always ready to use. The Gannochy Trust Innovation Award of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Targeted at the next generation of Scottish innovators, the RSE Gannochy Trust Innovation Award has been presented annually to an individual aged 45 and under, working in Scotland with an innovation which has reached or passed Proof of concept stage and can be seen to make an important contribution to Scotlands well being.