MONTGOMERY, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EVSC--
Endovasc Inc. (OTCBB: EVSC), an early-stage drug
development company that pioneers new cardiovascular and metabolic
drug therapies, announces today that in conjunction with its Joint
Venture partner TissueGen, it has retained Nathan Blumberg, MD, to
collaborate with the Company on the development of biodegradable
stents for ureteral and prostate applications.
Procedures to remove kidney stones (ureteroscopies or
lithotripsies) can be extremely painful and often include the
insertion of a non-disposable plastic or rubber ureteral stent to
prevent further damage of the urinary tract and promote healing.
Presently, most ureteral stents require a second (cystoscopy)
procedure to be removed. By inserting a biodegradable stent at the
time of the first procedure, one could eliminate the pain and expense
of the second procedure. At the present time, there are no
biodegradable urinary stents in the market place.
Dr. Blumberg is a Board Certified Urologist and recently retired
from Urological Surgery at St. John's Episcopal Hospital (now renamed
St. Catherine of Sienna). He has several patent applications on
urinary stent designs that will serve as templates for this venture.
Together with the technology team at TissueGen, Dr. Blumberg will lead
efforts to develop and commercialize biodegradable urinary prostheses.
The ureteral stent will be composed of nontoxic tissue-compatible
materials designed to degrade some time after implantation, and are
then eliminated or metabolized safely by the body.
According to Dr. Blumberg, "I am extremely excited about this
opportunity. I believe that these stents may be viewed by the FDA as a
'substantial equivalent' to devices now employed, rather than as a
drug, and as such, would require fewer patient enrollments to gain
approval. Additionally, we already have approval for the first animal
studies that will be preformed at Stony Brook University Animal
Laboratories.
Dr. James Dukowitz, CEO of TissueGen, Inc. adds, "TissueGen is
very excited about the opportunity to continue our relationship with
Endovasc and we look forward to working with Dr. Blumberg. The market
truly needs the biodegradable stent technology that will be developed
in this joint venture."
According to Dr. Diane Dottavio, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Endovasc, "This joint venture brings together the medical
expertise of Dr. Blumberg with the precise bio-engineering
capabilities of TissueGen in an attempt to produce a revolutionary
product for the medical community. We estimate the potential market
for ureteral and urethral stents to be $125 million annually and $18.5
million for prostate stents."
Endovasc and TissueGen hold a number of patent applications on
their drugs and bioresorbable stent technologies. In addition, the
Company will maintain an aggressive patenting policy related to its
internal product development programs to ensure that its technologies
and potential future products are protected.

About TissueGen

TissueGen, Inc., based in Arlington, Texas, was founded in 2000 to
commercialize drug-releasing, bioresorbable polymer scaffolds
discovered by researchers in The University of Texas at Arlington's,
Biomedical Engineering Program. These scaffolds are uniquely designed
to meet the current challenges of tissue engineering and drug
delivery. TissueGen's proprietary technology combines drug delivery
with tissue engineering to control the timing and location of tissue
growth. Applications under development include nerve regeneration,
cancer remediation and cardiovascular therapies.

About Endovasc

Endovasc Inc., established in 1996, is an early-stage drug
development company that pioneers new cardiovascular and metabolic
drug therapies that are designed to deliver and release drugs to their
intended targets in an efficient and controlled manner. Endovasc's
lead drug candidates include Angiogenix(TM), Liprostin(TM),
PROStent(TM) stent-coating technology, biodegradable stents and other
drug-delivery stents.

Safe Harbor Statement

The foregoing statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and may contain
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that
may not be evident at the time of this release. For more information
about Endovasc, please visit www.endovasc.com.

KEYWORD: TEXAS
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PHARMACEUTICAL MEDICAL DEVICES BIOTECHNOLOGY
SOURCE: Endovasc Inc.

How much you in for?

This is the first pick of yours I played. Its nice to have someone 'active' like you around. I wish IBZT would run a little more. Its having trouble breaking 5 cents.

Which one of you just bought 132 shares?