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Biotech / Medical : QLT PhotoTherapeutics (QLTI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sultan who wrote (1279)	9/9/2003 4:41:54 PM
From: Ian@SI	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1321

It's no longer a rumour, conference call at 5PM today... QLT announces favorable vote from Medicare panel to support Visudyne(R) therapy for use in occult patients cnw VANCOUVER, Sept. 9 /CNW/ - QLT Inc. (NASDAQ: QLTI; TSX: QLT) announced today a favorable vote by the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee (MCAC) regarding questions relevant to the decision to be made by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on whether to expand the current reimbursement of Visudyne(R) Therapy to include patients with the occult choroidal neovascularization (CNV) due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in patients over 50. "We are pleased that after much discussion and debate the panel overall recommended that Visudyne improved the net health outcome in the population of patients with the occult form of the disease. We recognize that the panel was also in favor of further categorizing those patients that responded best to treatment as the appropriate patients to be treated," said Paul Hastings, President and Chief Executive Officer of QLT Inc. "We now must wait for the CMS to consider the panel's recommendation and come to their own conclusion relative to the coverage or non-coverage of Visudyne in patients with the occult form of AMD." MCAC is a consultative body of researchers, clinicians and consultants who advise CMS on scientific and clinical questions regarding Medicare coverage. CMS will consider the panel opinion when it evaluates whether the procedure should be covered in the population of Medicare beneficiaries who have AMD and occult with no classic CNV. Medicare already offers coverage for Visudyne therapy in AMD patients with predominantly classic lesions. A decision on the new use is expected before the end of 2003. Approximately 150,000 new cases of subfoveal wet AMD are diagnosed each year in North America and approximately 40% of these cases are in the occult form. Visudyne therapy is developed and commercialized through the alliance of QLT and the Ophthalmics Business Unit of Novartis Pharma AG. About Visudyne [snip] QLT Inc. will hold an analyst and investor conference call to discuss the MCAC panel meeting results on Tuesday, September 9th at 5:00 p.m. EDT (2:00 p.m. PDT). The call will be broadcast live via the Internet at www.qltinc.com. A replay of the call will be available via the Internet and also via telephone at 416-695-5800, access code 1474404.