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Devices Interventional Cardiology

 News Release - October 24, 2006

Cardium Reports on Positive Effects of Hypothermia Following Heart Attack and Announces Clinical Study to Be Co-Sponsored by Swedish Cardiology Center

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 24 (HSMN NewsFeed) -- Cardium Therapeutics (OTC Bulletin Board: CDTP ) and its subsidiary InnerCool Therapies today reported on preclinical data demonstrating a new and expanded benefit of early rapid cooling for the potential treatment of acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), as presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2006 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The companies also announced their plans for a new clinical study to further assess the safety and potential usefulness of early cooling for heart attack patients, which is expected to be co-sponsored in Sweden and to begin within the next several months.

The research reported at TCT was conducted by a team of interventional cardiologists led by Drs. Goran Olivecrona and David Erlinge at the Lund University Hospital, Sweden. In the recently completed study in a preclinical porcine heart attack model, researchers evaluated rapid cooling, induced by a combination of cold saline infusion along with InnerCool Therapies' endovascular Celsius Control System, prior to or coincident with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures, which are used to restore blood flow in the heart. The data showed that cooling prior to PCI reduced overall infarct size (reflecting tissue damage) by an additional 40%. These findings strongly support the use of early rapid cooling in planned clinical studies, and suggest that InnerCool's endovascular cooling system may have the potential to enable interventional cardiologists to dramatically reduce tissue damage following a heart attack.

Based on these findings, InnerCool plans to sponsor a study on the use of early rapid cooling following heart attack, which is expected to be co-sponsored and conducted by the interventional cardiology center at Lund University Hospital, Sweden. The planned study will be a randomized human clinical trial designed to evaluate the potential use of InnerCool's hypothermia system in the treatment of heart attack patients. This study will randomize approximately twenty patients who present within six hours of their heart attack for PCI alone or PCI plus the new early rapid cooling protocol. The hypothermia arm will include iced saline infusion plus use of the InnerCool Celsius Control System catheter prior to reperfusion in patients undergoing PCI. The trial will employ cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to provide an accurate assessment of the damage to the heart within days of the injury. The trial is expected to begin this year and to complete enrollment and treatment within about six months.

"We are excited by the data from this important preclinical study conducted at the Lund University Hospital in Sweden. The findings suggest that early rapid cooling prior to standard PCI reperfusion holds great promise as a potential means of reducing damage to the heart following a heart attack," stated Christopher J. Reinhard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cardium Therapeutics and InnerCool Therapies.

About InnerCool

In March 2006, Cardium acquired the technologies and products of InnerCool Therapies, Inc., a San Diego-based medical technology company in the emerging field of therapeutic hypothermia, which is designed to rapidly and controllably cool the body in order to reduce cell death and damage following acute ischemic events such as cardiac arrest or stroke, and to potentially lessen or prevent associated injuries such as adverse neurological outcomes. For more information about Cardium's InnerCool subsidiary and therapeutic hypothermia, including its Celsius Control System(TM), which has now received regulatory clearance in the U.S., Europe and Australia, please visit www.innercool.com.

InnerCool's approach to therapeutic hypothermia is based on a single-use flexible metallic catheter and a fully-integrated endovascular cooling system, which allows for rapid and controlled cooling and re-warming. InnerCool's Celsius Control System integrates a number of desirable features including a slim catheter profile, a highly efficient flexible metallic heat transfer element, a built-in temperature monitoring sensor, and a programmable console capable of rapidly and controllably inducing, maintaining and reversing therapeutic cooling. InnerCool's endovascular catheter-based Celsius Control System has received FDA 510(k) clearance for use in inducing, maintaining and reversing mild hypothermia in neurosurgical patients, both in surgery and in recovery or intensive care. The system has also received FDA clearance for use in cardiac patients in order to achieve or maintain normal body temperatures during surgery and in recovery / intensive care, and as an adjunctive treatment for fever control in patients with cerebral infarction and intracerebral hemorrhage. Potential future applications of the technology include endovascular cooling for cardiac arrest, acute ischemic stroke and myocardial infarction (heart attack).

Numerous articles have been published in scientific and medical journals describing the usefulness of therapeutic cooling, which is designed to protect endangered cells, prevent tissue death and preserve organ function following events associated with severe deprivation such as stroke or cardiac arrest. Therapeutic hypothermia is believed to work by protecting critical tissues and organs such as the brain, heart and kidneys following acute ischemic or inflammatory events, by lowering metabolism and preserving cellular energy stores, thereby potentially stabilizing cellular structure and preventing or reducing injuries at the cellular, tissue and organ level. The American Heart Association (AHA) recently revised its treatment guidelines to recommend the use of therapeutic cooling as part of the critical care procedures for patients with an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest following ventricular fibrillation. Studies for additional indications with InnerCool's system are expected to be conducted in collaboration with the AHA and with the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The Celsius Control System is now being used at a number of leading U.S. medical centers, including those at Stanford University, Cornell, Columbia, the University of Michigan, Harborview Medical Center, San Francisco General Hospital, the University of California Medical Centers at San Diego and San Francisco, and at medical centers in Australia and Sweden.

About Cardium

Cardium Therapeutics, Inc. is a medical technology company primarily focused on the development, manufacture and sale of innovative therapeutic products for cardiovascular and related indications. In October 2005, Cardium acquired a portfolio of growth factor therapeutics from the Schering AG Group, Germany, including the later-stage product candidate, Generx(TM), and completed a $30 million financing. Generx (alferminogene tadenovec) is a DNA-based growth factor therapeutic being developed for potential use by interventional cardiologists as a one-time treatment to promote and stimulate the growth of collateral circulation in the hearts of patients with ischemic conditions such as recurrent angina. For more information about Cardium and its businesses, products and therapeutic candidates, please visit www.cardiumthx.com.

In March 2006, Cardium acquired the technologies and products of InnerCool Therapies, Inc., a San Diego-based medical technology company in the emerging field of therapeutic hypothermia, which is designed to rapidly and controllably cool the body in order to reduce cell death and damage following acute ischemic events such as cardiac arrest or stroke, and to potentially lessen or prevent associated injuries such as adverse neurological outcomes. For more information about Cardium's InnerCool subsidiary and therapeutic hypothermia, including its Celsius Control System(TM), which has now received regulatory clearance in the U.S., Europe and Australia, please visit www.innercool.com.

In August 2006, Cardium acquired the technologies and products of the Tissue Repair Company (TRC), a San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of growth factor therapeutics for the treatment of severe chronic diabetic wounds. TRC's lead product candidate, Excellarate, is a DNA-activated collagen gel for topical treatment formulated with an adenovector delivery carrier encoding human platelet-derived growth factor-B (PDGF-B). Excellarate is initially being developed as a single administration for the treatment of non-healing diabetic foot ulcers. Other potential applications for TRC's Gene Activated Matrix(TM) (GAM) technology include therapeutic angiogenesis (cardiovascular ischemia, peripheral arterial disease) and orthopedic products, including hard tissue (bone), soft tissue (ligament, tendon) and cartilage. For more information about Cardium's Tissue Repair Company subsidiary, please visit www.t-r-co.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward looking and reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control and may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. Actual results may also differ substantially from those described in or contemplated by this press release due to risks and uncertainties that exist in our operations and business environment, including, without limitation, our limited experience in the development of DNA-based cardiovascular therapeutics and therapeutic hypothermia devices, our dependence upon proprietary technology, our history of operating losses and accumulated deficits, our reliance on collaborative relationships and critical personnel, and current and future competition, as well as other risks described from time to time in filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date hereof.

Copyright 2006 Cardium Therapeutics, Inc. All rights reserved.

For Terms of Use Privacy Policy, please visit www.cardiumthx.com.

Cardium Therapeutics(TM) and Generx(TM) are trademarks of Cardium Therapeutics, Inc.

Gene Activated Matrix(TM) and GAM(TM) are trademarks of Tissue Repair Company.

InnerCool Therapies®, InnerCool® and Celsius Control System(TM) are trademarks of InnerCool Therapies, Inc.


Source: Cardium Therapeutics

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