|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2002
PHARMANETICS SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH THE MEDICINES COMPANY
Company to Obtain Data Required for Regulatory Clearance of Ecarin Clotting Time Test (ECT)
Raleigh, NC (September 4, 2002) – PharmaNetics, Inc. (Nasdaq/NM: PHAR), a leader in theranostic management specializing in managing the delivery of therapeutics affecting coagulation, today announced the signing of an agreement with The Medicines Company (TMC) (Nasdaq/NM: MDCO). Under the terms of the agreement, TMC will purchase Ecarin Clotting Time (ECT) tests for the rapid evaluation of the anticoagulant effects of Angiomax®(bivalirudin), TMC’s direct thrombin inhibitor. The terms of the agreement also provide that TMC will furnish data from their clinical trials of Angiomax in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery for PharmaNetics to pursue FDA clearance to market the test cards for use with Angiomax. There are over 500,000 CABG procedures performed each year in the United States, and PharmaNetics estimates that the market for the ECT in this indication has the potential to exceed 1.0 million tests annually.
In the event that PharmaNetics is successful in obtaining regulatory clearance to market the ECT test, the companies may consider furthering their relationship to include cooperative marketing and test card supply assurance.
In commenting on today’s announcement, John Funkhouser, president and chief executive officer of PharmaNetics, said, “We are extremely pleased to have signed this agreement with TMC. In forming this partnership, we are aligning ourselves with an innovative organization that is dedicated to building an acute care franchise.” He added, “This agreement once again demonstrates the potential advantages of bringing together a theranostic test and a pharmaceutical compound. The integration of our resources through the clinical trial phase, combined with the potential for a cooperative marketing program, will allow PharmaNetics to address the coagulation management needs of the medical community.”
PharmaNetics’ technology is uniquely capable of evaluating drugs that influence both clot formation and dissolution and, as such, the Company’s strategy is to expand its menu by developing theranostic tests to assess multiple therapeutic agents. The Company intends to provide physicians with a single platform capable of monitoring numerous antithrombotic therapies, both those on the market as well as those being investigated in the treatment of diseases such as sepsis, stroke, unstable angina and deep vein thrombosis.
PharmaNetics, Inc., a leading biotech company, conceived the term “theranostics,” defining an emerging new field of medicine that enables physicians to monitor the effect of antithrombotic agents in patients being treated for angina, myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke, and pulmonary and arterial emboli. The Company develops, manufactures and markets rapid turnaround diagnostics to assess blood clot formation and dissolution. PharmaNetics develops tests based on its proprietary, dry chemistry Thrombolytic Assessment System for its principal target market of managing powerful new drug compounds, some of which may have narrow therapeutic ranges, as well as for monitoring routine anticoagulants.
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future performance of PharmaNetics that involve risks and uncertainties, such as risks related to market acceptance, clinical trials and dependence on third-party distributors and collaborative partners that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Information concerning these and other of the factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the Company’s SEC filings, including Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports.
|
|
|
