Debiotech obtains exclusive rights to
an innovative drug eluting stent technology

March 7, 2003: DEBIOTECH, Lausanne/Switzerland, has secured the exclusive worldwide license to an innovative biocompatible ceramic coating technology for drug delivery, previously licensed to Jomed N.V. and used for its drug eluting stent.

The ceramic coating technology, which has unique biocompatibility properties compared to polymer based coatings, makes it very attractive for numerous implantable devices. Such porous ceramic coating also offers unique drug absorption properties which makes it particularly suitable for drug delivery, e.g. drug eluting stents. In addition, ceramic coating technology can be used with every type and shape of stent and offers high resistance to deformation.

This patented technology had previously been exclusively licensed to the Dutch company Jomed N.V. and used with its implantable tacrolimus eluting stent. This already showed an increased benefit as a biocompatible coating alone and further has been used as an efficient drug eluting method. The license agreement with Jomed being recently terminated, Debiotech acquired from the original licensor exclusive worldwide rights for all medical applications.

"By obtaining an exclusive license on this exceptional nanoporous coating and drug release technology for implantable devices, Debiotech enters into a new therapeutic area with tremendous potential. It is further a perfect fit into our nanotechnology expertise and an ideal extension within the field of implantable medical devices in which Debiotech is already active with several drug delivery systems under development. This technology had already been successfully demonstrated for drug eluting stents in human trials and we expect it to become one key alternative in the near future for implantable devices given its unique biocompatibility and physical properties." says Frédéric Neftel, M.D., CEO of DEBIOTECH.

Debiotech intends to use this technology with selected drug candidates for the development of a new generation of drug eluting stent, in a market which is estimated today around 3 billion dollars and expected to reach 5 billion dollars within the next 2 years. The same technology can further be used for other implantable devices, such as heparin and other drug coated prosthesis.