Drug-Eluting Stent Furor may be
Good News
for Canadian Firm
Thrombosis concerns bring new opportunities for Metricath device
RICHMOND, BRITISH COLUMBIA --(Sept. 22, 2006) - MEDICAL VENTURES CORP. (TSX VENTURE:MEV), a medical devices company specializing in the development and commercialization of cardiovascular and surgical devices, believes it may have an answer to help address recent concerns about the safety of drug-eluting stents (DES).
Used to treat heart disease, stents are small mesh tubes implanted into blocked sections of an artery to open the artery and allow normal blood flow. Drug-eluting stents, or DES, release small doses of medication over time to prevent arteries from re-closing.
"We see the increased concern about the issues surrounding DES implantation as a significant opportunity for our Metricath products," said Paul Geyer, president and CEO of Medical Ventures. "Studies have suggested that poorly expanded stents are one of the factors related to increased rates of thrombosis, or the forming of dangerous blood clots within a vessel. We believe Metricath provides an ideal clinical tool to help ensure that stents, drug-eluting or not, are appropriately sized and fully expanded."
Thrombosis results from blood clotting within the stent, which can block the artery and cause serious complications, including death. While it is thought that the drug coating on the stent plays some role in why clots form, studies have also shown that stent under-expansion may also be a key factor. These concerns are resulting in an increased awareness about the clinical need to achieve full stent expansion and the value of tools to precisely size vessels and stents, such as Medical Ventures' Metricath® System.
The Metricath System is a catheter-based device used to precisely measure the size of arteries and expanded stents during stent implantation procedures. Metricath is used by physicians to assist them in selecting the proper size of stent for the artery and to confirm the stent is fully expanded after implantation.
"If, while using Metricath, a stent is found to be under-expanded, the physician can perform additional steps to expand the stent further and achieve maximum opening of the vessel," said Geyer. "This may prove to be a real benefit to reducing the number of improperly expanded stents and perhaps thrombosis rates as a result."
Presentations at this month's World Congress of Cardiology meeting in Barcelona raised concerns about stent thrombosis, or blood clots forming as a result of using drug-eluting stents. Newly published data suggests increased thrombosis rates in DES patients compared to those who are treated with bare metal stents, or stents not coated with medication. Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX), the DES market leader, also fuelled concerns after confirming this month that there is an increased risk of blood clots with the use of Taxus, its drug-coated stent. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has said it will assemble a panel to look into the long-term safety of DES.
About Medical Ventures Corp.
Medical Ventures Corp. is a medical device company dedicated to developing products that address clinical needs in the quickly growing cardiovascular and surgical marketplace. MEV products help doctors treat a wide range of health concerns, including cardiovascular disease, hernias and obesity. The Company develops and manufactures the patented Metricath® System catheter technology and PeriPatchTM, a range of surgical tissue products. For more information see www.medical-ventures.com.
Statements contained herein that are not based on historical or current fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "anticipates", "believes", "may", "continues", "estimates", "expects", and "will" and words of similar import, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: general economic and business conditions, both nationally and in the regions in which the Company operates; technology changes; competition; changes in business strategy or development plans; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; existing governmental regulations and changes in, or the failure to comply with, governmental regulations; liability and other claims asserted against the Company; and other factors referenced in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Source: Medical Ventures Corp. |
