Award to Further Develop Products for New Blood Vessel
Formation in Damaged Heart Tissue
LA JOLLA, Calif., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc.
(Nasdaq: ATIS) today announced that the Company has received a three-year
Advanced Technology Program (ATP) award of $2 million from the National
Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST). The award is for development
of a tissue-engineered Ischemic Repair Device (IRD) to induce vascularization
of and restore function to tissues and organs with reduced blood supplies
(ischemia). The IRD is intended primarily for cardiovascular applications,
but could also be used for repair of peripheral vascular tissue, such as blood
vessels in the leg.
The project will integrate current advances in cell culture, bioreactor
technology and bio-materials to create a unique, implantable living tissue
having the potential to respond physiologically to its environment. The IRD
will consist of an implantable scaffold containing living cells that provide
sustained delivery of multiple growth factors to induce growth of new blood
vessels, leading to wound repair and revascularization of damaged tissues in
the heart or other vascular tissues and organs. A variety of cell types will
be evaluated for cell proliferation and growth factor release under three-
dimensional growth conditions. Scaffolds will be designed to facilitate
potential delivery of the IRD through minimally invasive methods. If
successful, the IRD could be used as an adjunct to current treatments for
coronary artery disease. It is estimated that approximately three million
related procedures are performed annually worldwide.
"Cardiovascular disease, affecting 60 million Americans, is the nation's
leading cause of death and imposes costs to the health care system estimated
at more than $300 billion annually," said Robert M. Nerem, Ph.D., Director,
Georgia Tech/Emory Center for the Engineering of Living Tissues. "A tissue-
engineered product which can induce new blood vessel formation and restore
function to the heart muscle would represent a major advance, one which has
the potential to reduce health care costs and improve the quality of life for
heart disease patients."
"This ATP award reflects our approach to using external resources to fund
research into additional medical applications for our technology," said Gail
K. Naughton, Ph.D., President of Advanced Tissue Sciences. "This year we have
received five new awards which provide approximately $5 million in additional
resources over the next several years for research and development projects
related to our core programs. The current award will allow us to continue our
promising work in the development of tissue-engineered products to stimulate
new blood vessel formation in damaged heart tissue and further expand research
in our cardiovascular program."
ATP awards are made on the basis of a rigorous competitive review
considering scientific and technical merit of each proposal and its potential
benefits to the U.S. economy. The program does not fund product development.
Applicants must include a detailed business plan for bringing the new
technology to market once technical milestones have been achieved under ATP
support. The program is managed by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology.
Advanced Tissue Sciences is a tissue engineering company utilizing its
proprietary core technology to develop and manufacture human-based tissue
products for tissue repair and transplantation. The Company has two joint
ventures with Smith & Nephew plc. The first covers the application of
Advanced Tissue Sciences' tissue engineering technology for skin wounds and
includes Dermagraft(R) for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers,
TransCyte(TM) for the temporary covering of second and third-degree burns, and
future developments for venous ulcers, pressure ulcers, burns and other non-
aesthetic wound care treatments. The second joint venture is developing
tissue-engineered orthopedic cartilage, initially focusing on the repair of
cartilage in knee joints. The Company also has a strategic alliance with
Inamed Corporation for the development and marketing of several of Advanced
Tissue Sciences' human-based, tissue-engineered products for aesthetic and
certain reconstructive applications. In addition, the Company is developing
products for cardiovascular applications. For more information on Advanced
Tissue Sciences visit our web site at http://www.advancedtissue.com.
The discussions contained in this press release relating to research,
development, or commercialization of the Company's products that are not
strictly historical may be "forward-looking" statements which involve risks
and uncertainties. Funding provided in subsequent years over the term of the
three-year grant is contingent on the availability of funds from Congress,
subject to satisfactory performance by the Company, and will be at the sole
discretion of NIST. The Company may not successfully be able to obtain
continued funding when needed, develop any such products, complete clinical
trials, obtain regulatory approvals (or obtain any such approvals on a timely
basis), manufacture or successfully commercialize any such products. These
and other risks are detailed in the Company's publicly available filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission including, but without limitation,
Advanced Tissue Sciences' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
June 30, 2000. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the
results of any revision to these forward-looking statements to reflect events
or circumstances arising after the date hereof.
SOURCE Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.advancedtissue.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/532975.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 532975
CONTACT:
Jana Stoudemire, Senior Director, Corporate
Communications of Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc., 858-713-7802
|
