newsalert.com
Organogenesis Announces October Growth in Number of Sites Using Apligraf
Business Wire - November 04, 1998 09:14
CANTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 1998--Organogenesis Inc. (AMEX:ORG) today announced further expansion in
the number of medical centers that have ordered and that have re-ordered Apligraf(R), leading indicators of product market
acceptance. Between September and October 1998, the number of US centers that have ordered Apligraf grew from 135 to 192.
During the same time period, the number of centers that re-ordered Apligraf increased from 56 to 94. Both increases are the largest
of any month to date. Apligraf was launched in June in the US, and is marketed by Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation.
Month # Sites Buying Apligraf(1)
June 8
July 38
August 80
September 135
October 192
(1)Have ordered Apligraf one or more times since launch
Month # Sites Re-Ordering Apligraf(2)
June 2
July 9
August 24
September 56
October 94
(2)Have re-ordered Apligraf one or more times since launch
Novartis sponsored two major Apligraf events at the American College of Surgeons national meeting in Orlando the last week of
October. Over one hundred physicians attended the Novartis-sponsored symposium, "Wound Care: The Future is Here", the
morning of Sunday, October 25. A large number of physicians also visited the Novartis exhibit dedicated to Apligraf at the
meeting to learn more about the product.
During the next three weeks, Novartis will be sponsoring major Apligraf events at two more national medical meetings - an exhibit
at the Art & Science of Wound Management meeting in San Diego and an exhibit plus an educational symposium at the 25th Annual
Symposium on Current Critical Problems. These events are part of the comprehensive Apligraf medical education program being
sponsored by Novartis.
Apligraf is the only product made of living human cells to demonstrate efficacy in a large controlled trial and gain FDA approval.
Apligraf looks and feels like human skin. Like human skin, Apligraf is bilayered, with both a lower dermal and an upper
epidermal layer. The lower layer consists of living human dermal cells (fibroblasts) in an organized connective tissue matrix. The
upper layer contains living human epidermal cells (keratinocytes) organized to form the differentiated strata of the human
epidermis.
Organogenesis Inc. designs, develops and manufactures medical products containing living cells and/or natural connective tissue.
The Company's product development focus includes living tissue replacements, cell-based organ assist devices and other
tissue-engineered products. Lead product Apligraf has been approved for the treatment of venous leg ulcers in the US and Canada;
Novartis Pharma AG has global Apligraf marketing rights. Organogenesis' portfolio also includes the GRAFTPATCH(tm) surgical
product (also FDA-cleared for marketing), VITRIX(tm) connective tissue replacement product, injectable engineered collagen, a
bioartificial liver and a vascular graft. |
