Singapore, April 7, 2008:  Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company based out of Vancouver announced that the first New Zealand patient was treated with Cook Medical’s Zilver PTX drug-eluting peripheral stent in December 2007. A second patient was treated in February 2008. The Zilver PTX is the world's first drug-eluting stent for peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and was recently released for sale in certain regions worldwide including New Zealand.

 

Under the terms of its 1997 License Agreement with Cook, Angiotech is entitled to receive royalty payments upon the commercial sale of paclitaxel-eluting peripheral vascular stent products, including the Zilver PTX.

 

"Building on the success of our paclitaxel-eluting coronary stents, it is rewarding to see how our technology continues to be leveraged in other vascular indications. We hope that the Zilver PTX may provide a more long term treatment option for patients who suffer from peripheral arterial disease," said Dr William Hunter, President and CEO of Angiotech.

 

The Zilver PTX is currently undergoing multiple clinical trials in the US, Japan, and the EU to assess product safety and efficacy.

 

Cook Medical's Zilver PTX, a self-expanding nitinol stent, uses a proprietary, polymer-free technology to coat the device with paclitaxel, an antiproliferative drug that has been used successfully to reduce the risk of renarrowing of arteries following angioplasty. In many cases, PAD patients who have been treated with balloon angioplasty and stenting experience restenosis, or renarrowing of the arteries, over time and must undergo more invasive treatment such as bypass surgery to reopen the arteries. The Zilver PTX trials will determine whether the combination of the stent and paclitaxel will keep arteries open over time.