Is restenosis common in the developed countries? i.e. Does this refer to closing of any blood vessels affecting any angioplasty patients? (I'm not familiar with the term at all)
Any info on the the potential of this application would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Ian.
biz.yahoo.com
Extract follows:
Thursday April 30, 7:28 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc.
QLT Announces Strategic Alliance With Bard To Develop System For Restenosis
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc. (QLT) today announced a strategic alliance with C.R. Bard (Bard) to develop a therapeutic system and procedure for reduction of arterial restenosis utilizing localized delivery of photodynamic therapy.
The partnership will combine QLT's expertise in the field of photodynamic therapy -- an emerging field of medicine utilizing light-activated drugs in the treatment of disease -- with Bard's proprietary, catheter based intravascular delivery platforms and strong market presence in vascular disease management.
Restenosis -- the reclosing of blood vessels that occurs within six months in up to half of all angioplasty procedures -- is a potentially life- threatening condition that afflicts hundreds of thousands of patients annually. Current options for treating restenosis have had limited success.
Under terms of the partnership, Bard will fund product development and clinical research. Pending success of the clinical trials and achieving requisite regulatory approvals, Bard will market the combined QLT/Bard product on an exclusive worldwide basis.
QLT would receive royalty payments from Bard, based on an undisclosed formula tied to sales of the photodynamic therapy-based products. QLT has retained an option to co-fund research and development at a later date in exchange for an increased share of sales revenue.
''We see tremendous synergies for both QLT and Bard through this partnership,'' said Dr. Julia Levy, President and Chief Executive Officer of QLT, which is the only company in the world with a commercially approved photodynamic therapy drug.
''This alliance gives us a well established and respected partner with expertise in treating vascular diseases, an exciting new clinical area for QLT. The alliance also extends the potential markets for porfimer sodium -- our first-generation photodynamic therapy drug, which is currently marketed for oncology under the PHOTOFRIN(R) tradename,'' Dr. Levy added.
''In addition, because minimal upfront resource requirements are required by QLT, this partnership allows us to remain focused on our three core areas of development-oncology, opthalmology and autoimmune diseases -- while evaluating a potentially significant new market.''
Bard, a leading multinational developer, manufacturer and marketer of health care products established in the early 1900s, posted 1997 net sales of more than US $1.2 billion. Bard's vascular products group -- which currently markets products to treat vascular disease such as catheters, stents and grafts -- accounted for 38 per cent of total 1997 net sales.
''We're very pleased to form this partnership with QLT, which is recognized as the global leader in photodynamic therapy,'' said William Longfield, Bard's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. ''Bard is constantly looking for ways to improve patient outcomes in a cost-effective manner. We believe photodynamic therapy, utilizing localized intravascular catheter based delivery of QLT's porfimer sodium drug, could be an attractive, more user friendly alternative to the current attempts to treat restenosis.'' |
