Diaverum celebrates five years as an independent company

Munich / Lund, 2 July 2012 – Today, Diaverum is celebrating its 5th anniversary as an independent renal care provider. After the divestiture of the Gambro Healthcare Division in 2007 and the founding of Diaverum, the ‘new’ renal care provider has entered several new markets including Germany, Chile, Romania and Saudi Arabia. During this period the number of patients has increased by more than 50 per cent. Diaverum currently operates 252 clinics in 17 countries in Europe, Latin America, Australia and the Middle East.

On the occasion of the anniversary, Dag Andersson, CEO and President of Diaverum, said: “I am very proud of what we have achieved over the last five years. We have been able to leverage the dialysis experience and knowledge from 15 years as part of Gambro, add efficiencies regarding operating dialysis clinics and create a company culture that truly puts the patient in the centre – while at the same time reporting impressive growth figures”. Since June 2007, Diaverum opened more than 80 new clinics. Currently Diaverum cares for more than 20,000 patients worldwide conducting three million dialysis treatments per year.

Young player with a long history

The renal care history of Diaverum started with the founding of the Gambro Healthcare Division in 1991 and the first dialysis clinic opened in Lund, Sweden. Shortly after the divestiture of this division on 2 July 2007, the name Diaverum was adopted and launched globally. The key shareholder is Bridgepoint, a private healthcare investor.

Revitalising renal patients

“When launching Diaverum as independent provider we wanted to form a very unique appearance, reflecting our brand promise to ‘revitalise our patients, both physically and emotionally’. We chose a water colour style designed by a Swedish artist with light, vivid and revitalising expressions, which has proven to stand out in the rather ‘technical’ healthcare market”, explained Christina Sterner, Chief Communication Officer at Diaverum. “Also the name Diaverum was chosen deliberately: ‘dia’ represents our core business dialysis, while ‘verum’ is Latin for truth. Hence, the name of our company symbolises the honesty, transparency and reliability that Diaverum is known for today.”

Committed to quality

The main focus for Diaverum is to provide the highest level of quality care and run the clinics in a very safe and efficient way. Thus, significant efforts are devoted to integrating each new clinic through a 100-day and 1-year integration plan. Diaverum is fostering a culture of quality where all efforts are focussed on ultimately benefitting renal patients. Key elements are the awarded medical and scientific research organisation, the accredited training programmes, clinic audits and employee engagement activities.

Expanding the service offering

The prevalence of two of the most important risk factors for chronic kidney diseases, diabetes and hypertension is increasing at a fast pace. By 2025, it is estimated that 380 million people will suffer from diabetes and 1.6 billion people will have high blood pressure. The number of patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) is estimated to increase to 4 million by 2025, almost doubling compared to 2010. For ESRD-patients, the only alternative treatments are lifelong dialysis or kidney transplantation. These figures will present significant challenges to health systems.

“We are actively taking measures to seek better ways for early diagnosis and treatment, also from a socioeconomic perspective. We are expanding the services offered, including more preventive and early stage renal care. In some countries, we are already operating nephrology wards and our aim is to actively engage with the wider public and to advise them on how to prevent kidney diseases from the very start”, said Dag Andersson, providing an insight into the near future. “Going forward, we will continue to explore further geographic markets, focus on organic growth and expand our offering. We want to improve the quality of life for an increasing number of renal patients – worldwide.”