Healthcare Industry News: Angiotech Pharmaceuticals
News Release - January 17, 2007
Angiotech wins patent infringement case in the Netherlands
Conor Enjoined From Selling The Costar(TM) Stent In The NetherlandsVANCOUVER, Jan. 17 (HSMN NewsFeed) - Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANPI, TSX: ANP), announced today that they received a favorable decision from a Dutch Court in a patent dispute against Conor Medsystems, Inc. ("Conor").
The District Court in The Hague held that Conor's CoStar(TM) paclitaxel stent infringes a key claim of the Dutch version of an important Angiotech European stent patent, and that Conor is therefore immediately enjoined from selling CoStar(TM) in the Netherlands.
"This is a significant victory in a key area of our intellectual property," said Dr. William L. Hunter, President and CEO of Angiotech. "Conor's attempt to design around our patented technology has failed. Not only did the Court uphold Angiotech's patent rights in the Netherlands, it also ruled that Conor's stent infringes upon that intellectual property.
"We are pleased that this important European patent has now been enforced twice by the Dutch Court in two separate court actions, and we will continue to vigorously defend our important proprietary technologies in various jurisdictions around the world," added Dr. Hunter.
Angiotech anticipates that there will continue to be additional review and further hearings of the various patent claims in this case, and that there are likely to be appeals with respect to this court decision.
Note on Forward Looking Statements:
Statements contained in this press release that are not based on historical fact, including without limitation statements containing the words "believes," "may," "plans," "will," "estimate," "continue," "anticipates," "intends," "expects" and similar expressions, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All such statements are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements may involve, but are not limited to, comments with respect to our objectives and priorities for 2007 and beyond, our strategies or future actions, our targets, expectations for our financial condition and the results of, or outlook for, our operations, research development and product and drug development. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Many such risks, uncertainties and other factors are taken into account as part of our assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements and include, among others, the following: general economic and business conditions, both nationally and in the regions in which we operate; market demand; technological changes that could impact our existing products or our ability to develop and commercialize future products; competition; existing governmental regulations and changes in, or the failure to comply with, governmental regulations; adverse results or unexpected delays in drug discovery and clinical development processes; decisions, and the timing of decisions, made by health regulatory agencies regarding approval of our technology and products; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialization activities or consummate acquisitions; and any other factors that may affect performance. In addition, our business is subject to certain operating risks that may cause the actual results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this report to differ materially from our actual results. These operating risks include: our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; our ability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development of our products; changes in business strategy or development plans; our failure to obtain patent protection for discoveries; loss of patent protection resulting from third party challenges to our patents; commercialization limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; our ability to obtain rights to technology from licensors; liability for patent claims and other claims asserted against us; our ability to obtain and enforce timely patent and other intellectual property protection for our technology and products; the ability to enter into, and to maintain, corporate alliances relating to the development and commercialization of our technology and products; market acceptance of our technology and products; our ability to successfully manufacture, market and sell our products; the continued availability of capital to finance our activities; our ability to continue to integrate into our business the operations of American Medical Instruments Holdings, Inc. ("AMI"); our ability to achieve the operational and other synergies and the other commercial or financial benefits expected as a result of the acquisition of AMI; and any other factors referenced in our annual information form and other filings with the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities or the SEC.
Given these uncertainties, assumptions and risk factors, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. We disclaim any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus to reflect future results, events or developments.
About Angiotech
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company with 17 facilities in 6 countries and over 1,500 dedicated employees. Angiotech discovers, develops and markets innovative treatment solutions for diseases or complications associated with medical device implants, surgical interventions and acute injury. To find out more about Angiotech (NASDAQ: ANPI, TSX: ANP), please visit our website at www.angiotech.com.
Source: Angiotech Pharmaceuticals
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