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NEWS 2006

[06/26/2006]

EKOS(R) Develops new treatment for ischemic stroke using ultrasound contrast agents with $250 K

Presentations Highlight Advantages of EKOS EndoWaveR Ultrasound Accelerated Thrombolysis in Treating Both Peripheral Arterial and Venous Disease

BOTHELL, Wash., January 30, 2007 - EKOSR Corporation today announced that four presentations at the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy (ISET) being held in Hollywood, Florida featured results of clinical studies using the EKOS EndoWaveR Ultrasound Accelerated Thrombolysis (USAT) System. The clinical studies involved both peripheral arterial and deep venous thrombosis cases.

Each year over 500,000 patients in the US develop blood clots (thrombus) in the arteries and veins of their arms or legs. In most cases, the clot resolves itself or can be treated with medication, e.g., blood thinners. However, in over half of these cases, the obstruction is so severe that the patient's leg or foot is at risk. Two common treatment alternatives are 1) to surgically or mechanically remove the clot or bypass the obstructed blood vessel, or 2) to deliver clot-dissolving (thrombolytic) drug directly to the affected area via a catheter. The catheter-directed approach is less traumatic, but historically has required several days in the hospital to be effective. Also, the long time that it takes for infusion of the thrombolytic drug has been associated with the risk of major bleeding.

The EKOS EndoWave Peripheral Infusion System combines a proprietary multiple side hole drug infusion catheter with a guidewire-exchangeable ultrasound core for simultaneously infusing therapeutic agents and delivering high frequency, low power ultrasound energy. In the case of thrombolysis, the ultrasound energy has been shown to reversibly loosen and disaggregate fibrin strands in clot, and to drive drug deep into it to access more binding sites faster than conventional lytic infusion. The unique EKOS technology accelerates the action of the clot-dissolving drug so that treatment time can be shortened and less drug may be used.

"We are pleased by the growing utilization of the EKOS EndoWave system fueled by reports such as these at the ISET meeting," comments Douglas Hansmann, Ph. D., Chief Operating Officer of EKOS. "These results demonstrate that EKOS Ultrasound Accelerated Thrombolysis offers a better, faster and safer option for treatment than conventional catheter directed thrombolysis or mechanical thrombectomy in the peripheral vasculature."

The presentations at ISET include

EKOS Corporation announced today that it has received $250,000.00 from the National Institute for Neurological Disorder and Stroke (NINDS), a division of National Institutes of Health (NIH), to develop an ischemic stroke therapy that provides faster restoration of blood flow to the brain tissue.

EKOS preclinical studies have demonstrated that addition of ultrasound contrast agents (UCA) to ultrasound accelerated enzymatic thrombolysis can significantly augment clot lysis rate. Under the NINDS grant award, EKOS will develop a highly effective method to incorporate UCA in their current technology for thrombus treatment of patients suffering from ischemic stroke.

“We believe that intra-arterial delivery of a combination of t-PA and UCA at the site of thrombo-occlusion in presence of ultrasound can shorten time to reperfusion of ischemic tissue” said Azita Soltani, Ph.D., Pre-clinical research manager, EKOS, and principal investigator of this grant. “This approach holds the potential to improve clinical outcomes in stroke therapy.”

Under the terms of this grant, in vitro studies will be performed at EKOS Bothell located facility by Azita Soltani, Ph.D. In addition, EKOS will collaborate under a subcontract with Dotter Interventional Institute, Oregon Health and Science Institute with Dr. Dusan Pavcnik to confirm feasibility of the new therapeutic protocol in vivo. Professors Ronald Roy, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Boston University and Wayne Clark, Oregon stroke Center, Oregon Health and Science Institute, will provide guidelines as to acoustic and stroke therapy, respectively, throughout the duration of this project.

"We are grateful to the NIH SBIR program for their continued support of these exciting and pioneering studies in intra-arterial stroke therapy”, said Douglas Hansmann, Ph.D., COO of EKOS Corporation.

http://www.ekoscorp.com/