based on volume and price movement, noone seems to care, but
Matritech Reaches Marketing Agreement with Spanish Distributor
NEWTON, Mass., Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Matritech, Inc.
(Nasdaq: NMPS; BSE: MPS) announced today that it has reached an agreement on
marketing and product purchase terms relating to the Matritech NMP22(R) Test
Kit for bladder cancer with Barcelona-based Diagnostic Grifols for
distribution of the product in Spain and Portugal. Diagnostic Grifols is a
division of Grupo Grifols, which is a $180 million medical products company
with significant urology device and in vitro diagnostic businesses.
"Diagnostic Grifols has large sales forces in Spain, calling on both
urologists and diagnostic laboratories," said David L. Corbet, president of
Matritech. "We are very excited about Grifols' unique marketing capabilities
as they relate to selling NMP22 in Spain."
"We wanted a bladder cancer diagnostic and are extremely pleased to have
NMP22, which we believe is the best marker on the market," said Oriol Dunach,
Diagnostic Grifols' General Manager.
The new Spanish marketing arrangement adds to an expanding worldwide
distribution network for the Company. Konica is Matritech's marketing partner
in Japan. Earlier this month, Matritech announced that it had reached an
agreement on marketing and product purchase terms relating to the Matritech
NMP22 Test Kit for bladder cancer with OmniPharmNet Inc. and its marketing
partner, Shanghai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., for distribution of the product in
the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong. And, in June Matritech
announced in marketing and product purchase agreements with two European-based
partners for distribution of the Matritech NMP22 Test Kit in Italy and
Germany. Earlier this year, Matritech announced a marketing and product
purchase agreement with Oklahoma City-based UroCor Inc., which provides
laboratory services to U.S.-based urologists for diagnosing, prognosing and
monitoring patients with urological tumors. In addition, Matritech has
distribution agreements covering Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordon,
Iceland, South Africa and Korea.
NMP22(TM) is a Nuclear Matrix Protein (NMP) found in human epithelial
cells and is present at low levels in the urine of healthy individuals. The
majority of patients with bladder cancer have been shown to release large
quantities of NMP22(TM) into their urine. The Matritech NMP22 Test Kit for
bladder cancer is an enzyme immunoassay designed to measure the amount of
NMP22 in stabilized voided urine. In July 1996, the FDA approved the
Matritech NMP22 test kit for sale in the United States to be used on patients
with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the urinary tract after surgical
treatment to identify those patients at risk for occult or rapidly recurring
TCC.
Matritech, Inc., based in Newton, Mass., is using its proprietary nuclear
matrix protein (NMP) technology, discovered at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
and licensed exclusively to Matritech, to develop and commercialize innovative
serum-, cell- and urine-based NMP diagnostics that enable physicians to
reliably detect and monitor the presence of bladder, colorectal, cervical,
prostate lung and breast cancers.
CONTACT: Stephen D. Chubb, CEO of David L. Corbet, President of Matritech, Inc.,
617-928-0820, or Ronald C. Trahan, President of Ronald Trahan Associates, Inc.,
508-651-1180 |
