MENLO PARK, Calif., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Conor Medsystems, Inc. issued the following comment on the decision by District Court in The Hague which found Conor Medsystems’ CoStar(R) stent infringed a claim of the Dutch portion of European Patent (EP) 0 706 376 B1 to Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and upheld the validity of that claim.
“While we are disappointed with the Court’s decision today, we are pleased the Court invalidated the main claim of the patent and rejected Angiotech’s request for a cross-border injunction and a ban on the use of our CE mark and clinical trial data,” said Frank Litvack, M.D., Chairman and CEO of Conor. “We intend to appeal the decision and vigorously defend ourselves in these legal proceedings.”
Earlier this week, Conor announced that the Court of Appeal in the United Kingdom unanimously upheld the decision of the High Court of Justice to revoke the UK portion of the EP 0 706 376 B1.
Conor Medsystems develops innovative controlled vascular drug delivery technologies, and has primarily focused on the development of drug- eluting stents to treat coronary artery disease. For further information on Conor Medsystems and controlled vascular delivery, visit http://www.conormed.com .
The CoStar stent is not available for sale in the United States where it is an investigational device limited by law to investigational use.
(This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from Conor Medsystems’ expectations and projections. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed forward- looking statements, including statements related to future results of or expectation concerning any legal proceedings, other statements of expectation or belief, and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks and uncertainties include the substantial uncertainties related to patent litigation, including the uncertainty of an opposing party’s actions and the risk that the outcome of any legal proceedings may not be favorable to Conor Medsystems. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Conor Medsystems’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2006. This filing as well as subsequent filings are available online at http://www.sec.gov or on request from Conor Medsystems. Conor Medsystems does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments.)
Conor Medsystems, Inc.
CONTACT: Michael Boennighausen, Chief Financial Officer, Conor Medsystems,Inc., +1-650-614-4100
Web site: http://www.conormed.com/
