ANPI Angiotech Pharmaceuticals - Common Shares (MM)

VANCOUVER, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Angiotech") (NASDAQ:ANPINASDAQ:TSX:NASDAQ:ANP), a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company, today reported that its corporate partner, Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX), has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to market its TAXUS(R) Express(2)(TM) Atom(TM) Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System. The TAXUS Express Atom Stent is a highly deliverable drug-eluting stent (DES) specifically designed for treating small coronary vessels. It is the only DES approved by the FDA for use in vessels as small as 2.25 mm in diameter. BSC plans to launch the product immediately. "The TAXUS Express Atom Stent will provide better options for U.S. patients with coronary artery disease in small vessels," said Gregg Stone, M.D., Chairman of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation and Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, and Principal Investigator of the TAXUS IV and V clinical trials. "This is a welcome addition to the range of available drug-eluting stents, since patients with small vessels who are currently treated with bare-metal stents experience high rates of restenosis. In the TAXUS V clinical trial, the TAXUS Express Atom Stent significantly reduced the chance of restenosis and the need for repeat procedures compared to bare-metal stents, in patients with small vessel disease." "We congratulate Boston Scientific on further expanding the paclitaxel DES portfolio to help interventional cardiologists address the unmet needs of patients suffering from small vessel disease," said Dr. William Hunter, President and CEO of Angiotech. "We believe this approval reflects the progress Boston Scientific is making towards resolving the issues outlined two years ago in the Corporate Warning Letter," he added. Currently the leading drug-eluting stents worldwide, TAXUS Stent Systems have been evaluated by the industry's most extensive randomized, controlled clinical trial program, as well as studied in more than 35,000 real-world patients enrolled in post-approval registries. To date, approximately 4.6 million TAXUS Stents have been implanted worldwide. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements --------------------------------------------------------- Statements contained in this press release that are not based on historical fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "believes," "may," "plans," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipates," "intends," "expects" and similar expressions, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All such statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements may involve, but are not limited to, comments with respect to our objectives and priorities for the second half of 2008 and beyond, our strategies or future actions, our targets, expectations for our financial condition and the results of, or outlook for, our operations, research development and product and drug development. 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. Many such risks, uncertainties and other factors are taken into account as part of our assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements and include, among others, the following: general economic and business conditions, both nationally and in the regions in which we operate; market demand; technological changes that could impact our existing products or our ability to develop and commercialize future products; competition; existing governmental regulations and changes in, or the failure to comply with, governmental regulations; adverse results or unexpected delays in pre-clinical and clinical product development processes; adverse findings related to the safety and/or efficacy of our products or products sold by our partners; decisions, and the timing of decisions, made by health regulatory agencies regarding approval of our technology and products; and the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand manufacturing and commercialization activities or consummate acquisitions. In addition, our business is subject to certain operating risks that may cause any results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release to differ materially from our actual results. These operating risks include: our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; our ability to successfully complete pre-clinical and clinical development of our products; changes in business strategy or development plans; our failure to obtain patent protection for discoveries; loss of patent protection resulting from third party challenges to our patents; commercialization limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; our ability to obtain rights to technology from licensors; liability for patent claims and other claims asserted against us; our ability to obtain and enforce timely patent and other intellectual property protection for our technology and products; the ability to enter into, and to maintain, corporate alliances relating to the development and commercialization of our technology and products; market acceptance of our technology and products; our ability to successfully manufacture, market and sell our products; the continued availability of capital to finance our activities; and any other factors referenced in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Given these uncertainties, assumptions and risk factors, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect future results, events or developments. BSC acquired worldwide exclusive rights from Angiotech to use paclitaxel to coat its coronary stent products and has co-exclusive rights to certain peripheral vascular and non-vascular products. TAXUS(R) Express(2)(TM) Atom(TM) are trademarks of Boston Scientific Corporation. About Angiotech Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company with over 1,500 dedicated employees. Angiotech discovers, develops and markets innovative treatment solutions for diseases or complications associated with medical device implants, surgical interventions and acute injury. To find out more about Angiotech (NASDAQ:ANPINASDAQ:TSX:NASDAQ:ANP), please visit our website at http://www.angiotech.com/. DATASOURCE: Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CONTACT: DeDe Sheel, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (415) 293-4412,

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