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June 11, 2008, San Diego -- Cardium Therapeutics (Amex: CXM) today announced the launch of a new website at http://www.anginaresearchstudy.com to provide patients, caregivers and physicians with information about the Company's Phase 3 AWARE clinical study. The AWARE study is evaluating the therapeutic effects of Generx™ for the potential treatment of myocardial ischemia (insufficient blood flow within the heart muscle) and associated angina due to coronary heart disease. Generx is designed to promote angiogenesis, a natural process of blood vessel growth within the heart muscle, following a one-time intracoronary infusion from a standard cardiac infusion catheter.
The primary endpoint is the improvement in time to onset of electrocardiogram changes diagnostic of myocardial ischemia during exercise treadmill testing at six months following administration. The secondary endpoints are improvement in myocardial blood flow within the affected heart muscle measured by adenosine SPECT imaging, as well as improvements in other measures of angina. The AWARE study is expected to include up to 50 U.S. clinical centers. Enrollment criteria, participating sites and other information can be found at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00438867 and at Cardium's website at http://www.cardiumthx.com/flash/aware.html. Currently, there are 49 participating AWARE sites in 32 states across the nation, including: Alabama (University of Alabama, Birmingham); Arizona (Banner Baywood Heart Hospital and Medical Center, Mesa; Southwest Heart, Tucson); California (Cardiovascular Medical Group of Southern CA, Beverly Hills; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles; LA Cardiology Associates, Los Angeles; Mission Internal Medical Group, Mission Viejo; UCSD Medical Center, San Diego); Colorado (Aurora Denver Cardiology Associates, Aurora; South Denver Cardiology Associates, Littleton); District of Columbia (Cardiovascular Research Institute, Washington); Florida (Florida Hospital, Orlando; University of Florida, Gainesville); Georgia (St. Joseph's Research Institute, Atlanta); Idaho (St. Luke's Idaho Cardiology Associates, Boise); Illinois (Fox Valley Cardiovascular Consultants, Aurora; Midwest Heart Foundation, Lombard); Indiana (Northern Indiana Research Alliance, Fort Wayne; The Care Group, LLC, Indianapolis); Kentucky (CardioVascular Associates, Louisville); Massachusetts (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston); Maine (Maine Medical Center, Portland); Michigan (William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak); Minnesota (Minneapolis Heart Institute, Minneapolis; St. Mary's Duluth Clinic, Duluth); Missouri (St. Anthony's Medical Center, St. Louis; St. Lukes Hospital, Kansas City); Nebraska (BryanLGH Heart Institute, Lincoln; The Cardiac Center of Creighton University, Omaha); New Jersey (The Valley Hospital, Ridgewood); New York (Lenox Hill Heart & Vascular Institute, New York; University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester); North Carolina (Duke University Medical Center, Durham); Ohio (The Lindner Clinical Trial Center, Cincinnati; North Ohio Heart Center, Elria); Oklahoma (Oklahoma Cardiovascular Research Group, Inc., Oklahoma City); Oregon (Providence Heart & Vascular Institute, Portland); Pennsylvania (Geisinger Clinic, Danville; Heritage Cardiology Associates, Camp Hill); Rhode Island (The Miriam Hospital, Providence); Tennessee (Meharry Medical College, Nashville; The Stern Cardiovascular Center, Germantown); Texas (Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas; Baylor College of Medicine, Houston; Cardiovascular Associates of East Texas, Tyler; South Texas Cardiovascular Consultants, San Antonio); Vermont (Fletcher Allen Health Care, Burlington); Washington (Swedish Heart and Vascular Clinic, Seattle); and Wisconsin (Care Foundation, Wausau). About Women and Heart DiseaseAn estimated 7.3 million American women are currently living with coronary heart disease. Of these, approximately 4.6 million American women suffer from angina and it is estimated that approximately 300,000 women will die annually from coronary heart disease. The American Heart Association reports that more women's lives are claimed annually by cardiovascular disease than by the next five leading causes of death combined (all cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Alzheimer's, diabetes and accidents). Despite these stark statistics, surveys indicate that nearly half of women are not aware that heart disease is the leading cause of death among women, and only 20 percent were aware that heart disease as the greatest health problem facing women today. Observed differences between men and women with coronary heart disease are not fully understood. Some researchers believe the differences may be the result of microvascular disease, the narrowing or stiffening of the smaller arteries and arterioles that nourish the heart. While microvascular disease is believed to affect both men and women with coronary heart disease, the prevalence is higher in women and in patients with diabetes. About Generx Generx™ (alferminogene tadenovec, Ad5FGF-4) is the lead product candidate in a new class of cardiovascular biologics that is being developed to leverage the body's natural healing processes in response to repeated ischemic stress (insufficient blood flow and myocardial oxygen supply due to coronary heart disease). The natural biologic response to repeated transient ischemia is angiogenesis, the growth of new collateral blood vessels, which is orchestrated by a complex and incompletely understood cascade involving many growth factors. These newly-formed vessels can effectively augment blood flow and oxygen delivery to parts of the patient's heart downstream from a blockage in a coronary artery. In many patients however, including those with recurrent angina, coronary collateral vessel formation is insufficient to meet the heart's needs during stress. Currently available anti-anginal drugs, which may provide symptomatic relief, are generally designed to alter the oxygen demand of the heart muscle or dilate vessels to temporarily relieve angina. Generx is designed to be a disease-modifying angiogenic therapeutic to promote the heart's natural response to ischemia through the growth of new blood vessels to increase blood flow within the heart muscle. Cardium's therapeutic approach to the treatment of myocardial ischemia associated with coronary heart disease has been the focus of the most widely-conducted clinical studies for Angiogenic Gene Therapy (AGENT-1 through AGENT-4), which involved 663 patients at more than 100 U.S., European and other international medical centers. Generx represents the first and only DNA-based cardiovascular therapeutic to be advanced to Phase 3, and the Company believes it to be the only current Phase 3 product candidate for the potential treatment of patients with stable angina, a chronic medical condition affecting millions of patients in the U.S. and worldwide. About Cardium Cardium Therapeutics, Inc. and its subsidiaries, InnerCool Therapies, Inc. and the Tissue Repair Company, are medical technology companies primarily focused on the development, manufacture and sale of innovative therapeutic products and devices for cardiovascular, ischemic and related indications. Cardium's lead product candidate, Generx™ (alferminogene tadenovec, Ad5FGF-4), is a DNA-based growth factor therapeutic being developed for potential use by interventional cardiologists as a one-time treatment to promote and stimulate the growth of collateral circulation in the hearts of patients with ischemic conditions such as recurrent angina. For more information about Cardium and its businesses, products and therapeutic candidates, please visit http://www.cardiumthx.com or view its 2007 Annual Report. Cardium's InnerCool Therapies subsidiary is a San Diego-based medical technology company in the emerging field of patient temperature modulation therapy to rapidly and controllably cool the body in order to reduce cell death and damage following acute ischemic events such as cardiac arrest or stroke, and to potentially lessen or prevent associated injuries such as adverse neurological outcomes. For more information about Cardium's InnerCool subsidiary and patient temperature modulation, including InnerCool's Celsius Control System™ and CoolBlue System™, please visit http://www.innercool.com. Cardium's Tissue Repair Company subsidiary (TRC) is a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of growth factor therapeutics for the treatment of severe chronic diabetic wounds. TRC's lead product candidate, Excellarate™, is a DNA-activated collagen gel for topical treatment formulated with an adenovector delivery carrier encoding human platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB). Excellarate is initially being developed to be administered once or twice for the potential treatment of non-healing diabetic foot ulcers. Other potential applications for TRC's Gene Activated Matrix™ (GAM™) technology include therapeutic angiogenesis (cardiovascular ischemia, peripheral arterial disease) and orthopedic products, including hard tissue (bone) and soft tissue (ligament, tendon, cartilage) repair. For more information about Cardium's Tissue Repair Company subsidiary, please visit http://www.t-r-co.com. Forward-Looking Statements Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward looking and reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control and may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. For example, there can be no assurance that results or trends observed in one clinical study will be reproduced in subsequent studies, that our clinical trials can be initiated and conducted in a timely and effective manner, that clinical trials and other efforts to accelerate the development of our Generx™ product candidate will be successful, that necessary regulatory approvals will be obtained, that our actual or proposed products and treatments will prove to be sufficiently safe and effective, that competing products will not be safer, more effective or less expensive, that third parties on whom we depend will perform as anticipated, or that our products or product candidates will lead to value enhancing or partnering opportunities. Actual results may also differ substantially from those described in or contemplated by this press release due to risks and uncertainties that exist in our operations and business environment, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties that are inherent in the development, testing and marketing of complex biologics and therapeutic hypothermia devices and in the conduct of human clinical trials, including the cost, timing and results of such trials, our dependence upon proprietary technology, our ability to obtain necessary funding, regulatory approvals and qualifications, our history of operating losses and accumulated deficits, our reliance on collaborative relationships and critical personnel, and current and future competition, as well as other risks described from time to time in filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date hereof. Cardium Therapeutics™ and Generx™ are trademarks of Cardium Therapeutics, Inc. Tissue Repair ™, Gene Activated Matrix™, GAM™ and Excellarate™ are trademarks of Tissue Repair Company. InnerCool Therapies®, InnerCool®, Celsius Control system, CoolBlue™ and RapidBlue™ and Accutrol™ are trademarks of InnerCool Therapies, Inc. Source: Cardium Therapeutics, Inc. |
