ANPI Angiotech Pharmaceuticals - Common Shares (MM)

Angiotech partner announces 400th patient enrolled in study of next-generation TAXUS(R) Liberte(TM) coronary stent system More than 30,000 patients planned for world's largest drug-eluting stent registry VANCOUVER, BC, and PARIS, France, May 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANPINASDAQ:TSX:NASDAQ:ANP) corporate partner, Boston Scientific ("BSC"), today announced that BSC has enrolled its 400th patient in the world's largest drug-eluting stent registry. The global TAXUS Liberte registry plans to enroll more than 30,000 patients at more than 600 centers in the United States, Europe and other international locations. The registry is designed to collect and analyze "real-world" clinical outcomes data for BSC's next-generation TAXUS(R) Liberte(TM) paclitaxel-eluting stent system in the treatment of patients with coronary artery disease. (A post- approval registry enlists large numbers of clinicians to document the performance of a specific therapy for a particular disease or condition.) BSC made the announcement at the annual Paris Course on Revascularization. According to BSC, the registry will enroll patients in five phases, corresponding to the commercial introduction of the TAXUS Liberte system in different regions of the world. The initial, transitional phase is enrolling patients from a limited number of international markets in which BSC launched the TAXUS Liberte system in January. This phase will be followed by enrollment of more than 15,000 patients from a broader number of international markets and then European markets this summer. The final two-phase U.S. enrollment is expected to take place in 2006, BSC reported. The TAXUS(R) Liberte(TM) coronary stent system will be the next generation to BSC's market-leading paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system, TAXUS(R) Express2(TM). The Liberte stent features the Veriflex(TM) stent design, a highly flexible cell geometry with thin struts and uniform cell distribution. This new platform has been designed to offer improved deliverability and conformability in challenging anatomy. It also features the enhanced TrakTip(TM) catheter tip, mounted on the Maverick2(TM) delivery catheter, to provide better lesion crossability. In addition, TrakTip has a low lesion-entry profile, also intended to further improve crossability. "What really sets Liberte apart from the rest of the drug-eluting stent field is its flexibility and deliverability," said Waqar H. Ahmed, M.D., M.S., FACC, at King Fahed Armed Forces Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. "As we enter the next phase of drug-eluting stents, the TAXUS stent system has a technological edge with the Liberte stent as its next-generation platform." BSC acquired worldwide exclusive rights from Angiotech to use paclitaxel to coat its coronary stent products and has co-exclusive rights to other vascular and non-vascular products. Vancouver-based Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company pioneering the combination of pharmaceutical compounds with medical devices and biomaterials to both create novel solutions for poorly addressed disease states and dramatically improve surgical outcomes. To find out more about Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANPINASDAQ:TSX:NASDAQ:ANP), please visit our website at http://www.angiotech.com/. Statements contained herein that are not based on historical or current fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "anticipates," "believes," "may," "continue," "estimate," "expects," "may" 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 the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or the 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. CONTACTS: Todd Young, Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (Analysts & Investors) (604) 221-7676 ext 6933 Rui Avelar, Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Analysts) (604) 221-7676 ext 6996 Eric Starkman, Starkman & Associates (Media) (212) 252-8545 ext 12 DATASOURCE: Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CONTACT: Todd Young, Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (Analysts & Investors), (604) 221-7676 ext 6933; Rui Avelar, Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Analysts), (604) 221-7676 ext 6996; Eric Starkman, Starkman & Associates (Media), (212) 252-8545 ext 12

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