Attached files
| file | filename |
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| 8-K - MultiCell Technologies, Inc. | v199271_8k.htm |
| EX-10.2 - MultiCell Technologies, Inc. | v199271_ex10-2.htm |
| EX-24.1 - MultiCell Technologies, Inc. | v199271_ex24-1.htm |
| EX-10.1 - MultiCell Technologies, Inc. | v199271_ex10-1.htm |
| EX-10.3 - MultiCell Technologies, Inc. | v199271_ex10-3.htm |
PRESS
RELEASE
MULTICELL’S
MAJORITY OWNED SUBSIDIARY ACQUIRES BIOABSORBABLE INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY STENT
ASSETS
WOONSOCKET,
RI, October 19, 2010 /PRNewsWire/ — MultiCell Technologies, Inc.
(OTC Bulletin Board MCET – News) and its majority owned subsidiary, Xenogenics
Corporation, are pleased to announce the acquisition of the Ideal™ BioStent
assets by Xenogenics Corporation from investment funds managed by Western
Technology Investment and Silicon Valley Bank. Xenogenics Corporation also
entered into a worldwide exclusive license with Rutgers University for rights to
certain intellectual property related to the Ideal™ BioStent.
The
multi-billion dollar interventional cardiology and intravascular stent market
remains extremely lucrative, and one of the most attractive opportunities for
medical device companies. Several analysts predict the 2010 estimated
worldwide interventional cardiology and intravascular stent market to exceed
$4.6 billion, growing 3% to 4% annually. Clinicians, patients and
manufacturers are seeking the next generation of interventional cardiology and
intravascular medical devices which address long-term safety concerns and
improvement of blood vessel health, while still providing efficacy equivalent to
current generation products.
The
Ideal™ BioStent is the only stent to offer a dual-drug polymer, incorporating
salicylate, the active component in aspirin, directly into the polymer
chain. As the polymer degrades, salicylate is released directly into the
vessel wall to provide anti-inflammatory therapy aimed at reducing stenosis and
the promotion of blood vessel healing.
The
Ideal™ BioStent also incorporates the drug Sirolimus (rapamycin) in its polymer
matrix to provide anti-restenotic therapy similar to today’s commonly used
drug-eluting metal stents. The Ideal™ BioStent’s technology allows for the
ability to layer different combinations of polymers and drugs, enabling the
optimization of the delivery of combination drug therapies to provide superior
clinical results. The Ideal™ BioStent represents a significant advance
over currently available stents, including:
·
The ability to promote positive vessel remodeling.
·
A significant reduction in late-stent thrombosis
risk.
·
No metal artifact remaining in the patient’s body after vessel
healing.
·
The reduced need for long-term and costly anti-platelet
therapy.
In
extensive animal testing and initial human use, the Ideal™ BioStent demonstrated
equivalence in safety, short-term efficacy and structural integrity when
compared with today’s leading bare metal stent and drug-eluting metal stent.
Importantly, unlike other bioabsorbable stent technologies, the Ideal™ BioStent
showed no stent recoil, both acute and at six month follow up, remaining well
apposed to the vessel wall. Furthermore, the Ideal™ BioStent is designed
to be fully absorbed at 12 months leaving no metal artifact behind in the blood
vessel, and allows the blood vessel to heal and return to its natural biological
state.
The
ability of the Ideal™ BioStent to leave no permanent structure behind offers
several advantages over today’s drug eluting and bare metal stents:
|
·
|
No risk of late adverse
events. Because the Ideal™ BioStent eliminates the permanent
implant and polymer of today’s drug-eluting stents, it also eliminates the
risk of late adverse events, such as late stent thrombosis. Patients
will not require costly antiplatelet therapy for long durations,
potentially opening the market to diabetic patients, or patients with
other bleeding disorders who were previously contraindicated for stent
placement.
|
|
·
|
Promotes remodeling of the
artery. Permanent metal stents, because of their rigidity,
prevent the artery from reacting naturally and make true healing
impossible. As a result, clinician interest is accelerating around
the extremely strong potential of bioabsorbable stents to promote vascular
healing and return vessels to their natural
state.
|
|
·
|
Does not preclude future
interventions. Patients with metal stents may not be able to
undergo future procedures, such as bypass surgery. Biodegradable
stents do not have this limitation, and by promoting healing of the vessel
wall, bioabsorbable stents may even reduce the likelihood that such future
interventions will be
necessary.
|
“We saw a
significant opportunity to build upon $20 million in invested capital, since the
Ideal™ BioStent has already demonstrated proof of concept in initial human
clinical trials”, stated W. Gerald Newmin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
of MultiCell Technologies.
Xenogenics
Corporation also licensed rights to a strong intellectual property portfolio
covering the Ideal™ BioStent. This patent estate includes 24 issued
patents, and over 65 patent applications with broad claims encompassing
interventional cardiology and intravascular bioabsorbable stent design and
manufacture.
MultiCell
Technologies provided the financing for the acquisition of the Ideal™
BioStent. MultiCell Technologies increased its ownership position in
Xenogenics Corporation to 91.72% as a result of providing the acquisition
financing. Additional information about the transaction can be found on
MultiCell Technologies’ Form 8K filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (“SEC”).
About
Xenogenics Corporation
Xenogenics
Corporation is a development-stage medical device company focused on the design
of next-generation bioabsorbable stents for interventional cardiology and
peripheral vessel applications. Xenogenics is a majority owned subsidiary
of MultiCell Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: MCET).
About
MultiCell Technologies, Inc.
MultiCell
Technologies, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing
novel therapeutics and discovery tools that address unmet medical needs for the
treatment of neurological disorders, hepatic disease and cancer. For more
information about MultiCell Technologies, please visit
http://www.multicelltech.com.
Caution
Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Any
statements in this press release about MultiCell Technologies' expectations,
beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not
historical facts and are forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). These statements are
often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as
“believe”, “will”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “intend”, “plan”,
“forecast”, “could”, and “would”. Examples of such forward looking statements
include statements regarding the predicted size of the interventional cardiology
and intravascular stent market and statements regarding the efficacy and safety
of the Ideal™ BioStent. MultiCell bases these forward- looking statements
on current expectations about future events. They involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results,
levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement. Some of the
risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ
materially from estimates or projections in the forward-looking statement
include, but are not limited to, the risk that we might not achieve our
anticipated clinical development milestones, receive regulatory approval, or
successfully commercialize our products as expected, the market for our products
will not grow as expected, and the risk that our products will not achieve
expectations. For additional information about risks and
uncertainties MultiCell faces, see documents MultiCell files with the SEC,
including MultiCell's report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 30,
2009, and all our quarterly and other periodic SEC filings. MultiCell
claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements under
the Act and each assume no obligation and expressly disclaim any duty to update
any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date
of this news release or to reflect the occurrence of subsequent
events.
Contact:
MultiCell
Technologies, Inc.
W. Gerald
Newmin, Chairman
(401)
762-0045
MCETInvestor@MultiCelltech.com