Heart Valve Specialist Leman Cardiovascular SA Announces Full Acquisition Of Hancock Jaffe Laboratories, Inc.

LONAY, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 18, 2006--Swiss company Leman Cardiovascular ("LCV") today announced that it has acquired Hancock Jaffe Laboratories (HJLI), of Irvine, California, for an undisclosed amount. With this acquisition Leman Cardiovascular realizes its first business development objective. Both companies have expertise in biological cardiovascular implants, in particular proprietary tissue treatments and biologic heart valve and vascular graft design and manufacturing.

Dr Benedict Broennimann, President and CEO of LCV, commented that "With the acquisition of Hancock Jaffe Laboratories, we have acquired technology rights for tissue processing that has proven successful in heart valve manufacture as well as facilities that are FDA and ISO 13485:2003 compliant. We are enthusiastic to team up with people who have such a strong experience in biological tissue treatment and biological heart valve manufacturing."

He added: "Now that Leman Cardiovascular is international, we shall further pursue our business development strategy and are already looking at other strategic alliances."

Currently, some half a million patients suffer from heart valve disease worldwide and it is expected that by 2010 the number of patients will exceed 600,000. The cardiovascular market worldwide is estimated at USD 20 billion; of this, the heart valve replacement market represents USD 1 billion.

Leman Cardiovascular, incorporated in Lonay, Switzerland, is a biomedical device company founded in 2004 to develop, manufacture, and market cardiovascular surgical devices. The first product in development is an innovative third generation biological heart valve which the company plans to introduce in 2008. For more information see www.lemancardiovascular.com.

Hancock Jaffe Laboratories, Inc. is a privately held company based in Irvine, California founded in 1987. The Company develops biological tissue solutions to treat patients with various cardiovascular disorders. The Company's ProCol® Vascular Bioprosthesis has received FDA approval for the creation of a bridge graft in patients requiring vascular access. A recent article in the American Journal of Surgery demonstrated that the vascular graft performed similarly to the requirements of the DOQI guidelines for native arteriovenous fistulae and can substantially benefit the dialysis patient with complex or difficult access requirements. The Company's PeriPro(TM) Pericardial Patch is FDA cleared for use in cardiovascular surgery. These products are available for sale in the United States. For more information see www.hancockjaffe.com.

Contact: Genevensis Healthcare Communications Daniele Letore, +41 22 779 0620 info@genevensis.com

Source: Leman Cardiovascular