BOSTON, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NMT Medical, Inc. announced today that the Company has received a Phase I grant from the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Small Business Technology Transfer Program and has initiated a research program to evaluate the new BioTREK(TM) bioactive PFO closure technology.
The research is being conducted at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire under the direction of Aaron V. Kaplan, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of Research, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories, and Ebo D. deMunick, M.D., PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Physiology and Director of ARC Animal Physiology Laboratory, Dartmouth Medical School.
Commenting on the research study, Dr. Kaplan said, “BioTREK(TM) incorporates a unique biosynthetic material that uses the body’s own regenerative capability to restore function naturally. It is our hope that BioTREK(TM) will provide a more natural, biological closure of structures within the heart, such as the PFO, leaving nothing behind.”
John E. Ahern, NMT’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are pleased to initiate BioTREK(TM) research with the Dartmouth team after receiving the Phase I grant from the NIH. BioTREK(TM) represents our second biological closure technology, and follows our BioSTAR(TM) implant technology, for which we currently anticipate receiving CE Mark approval in Europe later this year. We believe that the biomaterials in the BioSTAR(TM) and BioTREK(TM) implants, whether used alone or in combination, further complement our current CardioSEAL(R) and STARFlex(R) closure technologies, providing us with an exceptionally promising and well-protected technology pipeline. We expect the research from this grant to further position NMT as the leader in the PFO closure marketplace.”
About NMT Medical, Inc.
NMT Medical is an advanced medical technology company that designs, develops and markets proprietary implant technologies that allow interventional cardiologists to treat cardiac sources of migraine headaches, stroke and other potential brain attacks through minimally invasive, catheter- based procedures. NMT Medical is investigating the potential connection between a common cardiac defect called a PFO and brain attacks such as migraine headaches, stroke and TIAs. A PFO can allow venous blood, unfiltered and unmanaged by the lungs, to enter the arterial circulation of the brain, possibly triggering a cerebral event or brain attack. More than 20,000 PFOs have been closed globally with NMT’s minimally invasive, catheter-based implant technology.
The prevalence of migraines in the United States is about 10%. Of the 28 million migraine sufferers in America, those who experience aura and have a PFO may represent a three million patient subset. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and the leading cause of disability in adults. Each year, 750,000 Americans suffer a new or recurrent stroke and 500,000 Americans experience a TIA.
The Company also serves the pediatric interventional cardiologist with a broad range of cardiac septal repair implants delivered with nonsurgical catheter techniques. For more information about NMT Medical, please visit http://www.nmtmedical.com.
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements -- including statements regarding BioTREK(TM) and BioSTAR(TM)-- involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties or other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, the timing and ultimate outcome of any of the Company’s clinical trials, and the Company’s ability to develop and commercialize new products, potential delays in the regulatory process with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and foreign regulatory agencies, as well as risk factors discussed under the heading “Certain Factors That May Affect Future Results” included in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2005 and subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact: John E. Ahern President and Chief Executive Officer NMT Medical, Inc. (617) 737-0930 jea@nmtmedical.com
NMT Medical, Inc.
CONTACT: John E. Ahern, President and Chief Executive Officer of NMTMedical, Inc., +1-617-737-0930, jea@nmtmedical.com
Web site: http://www.nmtmedical.com//
