Data from Randomized Pilot Study, Real-World Use of OrbusNeich's Genous(TM) Bio-engineered R stent(TM) to be Presented in Symposium at EuroPCR 2008

Other Data Presentations to Focus on Use of Pro-Healing Stent with AMI Patients and Those Who Cannot Tolerate Dual-Antiplatelet Therapy

By OrbusNeich

The symposium, titled "Clinical Impact of the Pro-Healing Stent," will take place at noon on May 15. Germano Di Sciascio, M.D., professor and chairman of cardiology at Campus Biomedico, University of Rome, Italy, will serve as the chairperson of the symposium and will present 14 month follow up data on 78 patients treated with the Genous stent.

Jonathan Hill, M.D., of King's College, London, will discuss the functional importance of endothelial progenitor cells for accelerated natural healing. Huay-Cheem Tan, M.D., National University Hospital, Singapore will present on the use of the Genous Bio-engineered R stent in acute myocardial infarction patients and Michael Kutryk, M.D., Ph.D. of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto will focus on the use of the stent in patients who cannot tolerate dual-antiplatelet therapy.

Robbert de Winter, M.D., Ph.D., director of the catheterization laboratory at the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, will show the 12 month follow-up data from a 193-patient, single-center, prospective, single blind study called TRIAS HR Pilot with the Genous stent randomized with a drug eluting stent. In addition, de Winter will include interim follow up data from patient subsets in e-HEALING, a monitored, multi-center, worldwide (outside the United States) prospective registry with 5,000 enrolled patients. Dr de Winter is the principal investigator of the TRIAS HR Pilot study and co-principal investigator of the e-HEALING registry.

"We expect the data to strengthen our conviction that Genous is a very important and promising alternative to drug-eluting stents," said de Winter. "EuroPCR is the ideal venue at which we can share our findings and demonstrate the impact that the Genous technology is having on the interventional cardiology community."

Unlike drug-eluting stents, Genous, which is coated with an antibody, captures a patient's endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) to accelerate the natural healing process. EPCs circulate in the bloodstream and are involved in the repair of blood vessels. When attracted to the surface of Genous, EPCs rapidly form an endothelial layer over the stent that provides protection against thrombus and minimizes restenosis.

OrbusNeich designs, develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical devices for the treatment of vascular diseases. The company's product portfolio includes the Genous Bio-engineered R stent, an antibody-coated device that is the first-ever stent to capture a patient's endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) to accelerate the natural healing process following placement. Other products are stents, balloons and guiding catheters marketed under the names of Blazer(TM), R stent(TM), Sapphire(TM), Avita(TM), Avita HP(TM), SafeCut(TM), Lumina(TM) and Saffron.

A global company, OrbusNeich is headquartered in Hong Kong and has operations in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Hoevelaken, The Netherlands; Tokyo; and Shenzhen, China. OrbusNeich, which has provided cardiology devices to physicians through its predecessor companies since 1979, today supplies products to interventional cardiologists in more than 60 countries. For more information, visit www.OrbusNeich.com.

Editor's Note: OrbusNeich will display the Genous Bio-engineered R stent at Booth No. F06 at EuroPCR 2008.

SOURCE OrbusNeich