TORONTO, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - 2006 Novadaq(R) Technologies Inc. , a developer of medical imaging systems for the operating room, today announced that T. Bruce Ferguson, MD Associate Chief Division of Vascular and CT Surgery at East Carolina University Heart Institute and Chief Medical Advisor to Novadaq, presented the SPY Intra-operative Fluorescence Vascular Angiography procedure and request for a unique ICD-9-CM Code at the September 28th meeting of the Coordination and Maintenance Committee. As a result, a recommendation for a unique ICD-9-CM code is posted on the CMS website.
The process for finalization of recommendations includes a public comment period. Final ICD-9-CM diagnosis and procedure codes for the upcoming fiscal year will be made public in the April 2007 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to be published in the Federal Register following the pubic comment period which ends December 4, 2006. Also attending the meeting in support of the request by Novadaq Technologies for a unique ICD-9 CM Code were Mitchell Magee, MD, Medical City Hospital, Edwin McGee MD, Northwestern University Medical Center, Zev Davis, MD Edward Hospital, Christine McCarty, MD, Harrisburg Hospital, Michael Shen MD, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Nimesh Desai, MD, PhD, Sunnybrook Hospital and Denise Gunkle RN, St. John Macomb Hospital.
ICD-9-CM procedure codes are used to describe medical procedures performed by physicians and other healthcare providers. For more detailed information about the ICD-9-CM process including a copy of the September 28th meeting agenda, handouts including coding recommendations and process for public comment is available on the CMS website at www.CMS.hhs.gov/ICD9ProviderDiagnosticCodes (click on ICD-9-CMCoordination and Maintenance Committee Meetings on the left side of the page).
About Novadaq Technologies
Novadaq Technologies Inc. develops and commercializes medical devices based on its proprietary imaging platform for the diagnosis and treatment of human vascular and ophthalmic diseases and conditions. Novadaq’s SPY(R) Intra-operative Imaging System, commercially available worldwide, enables cardiac surgeons to visually assess coronary vasculature and bypass graft functionality during the course of open-heart surgery. Novadaq’s ophthalmic product, the OPTTX(R) System, is aimed at the diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) by using the same core imaging technology that is used in the SPY System. Novadaq filed for CE Mark approval for the OPTTX System at the end of Q2 2006 and expects a limited launch in Europe by year end. Novadaq’s product for urology, LUNA(TM) is designed to enable surgeons to visualize nerve bundles during the course of urological procedures such as radical prostatectomy in order to reduce negative outcomes including impotency. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.novadaq.com.
This press release contains certain information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of securities laws. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of terms such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “expect”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “intend”, “estimate”, “predict”, “potential”, “continue” or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Forward-looking information may relate to management’s future outlook and anticipated events or results, and may include statements or information regarding the future financial position, business strategy and strategic goals, research and development activities, projected costs and capital expenditures, financial results, research and clinical testing outcomes, and plans and objectives of or involving Novadaq. Particularly, information regarding future sales and marketing activities, the future roll-out of the SPY System in Europe and Emerging Markets, future revenues and research and development activities, expectations for regulatory approval and commercial launch of the OPTTX System, as well as the Company’s plans for each of the SPY, OPTTX and Luna Systems, is forward-looking information.
Forward-looking information is based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, current sales and distribution plans, market acceptance and the rate of market penetration of Novadaq’s SPY System, the clinical results of the use of the SPY System, the results from clinical tests of the OPTTX System, the likelihood of regulatory approval in Europe for the OPTTX System, potential opportunities in the AMD treatment market, and potential opportunities in image guided conventional and minimally invasive urological applications including nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.
Forward looking-information is subject to certain factors, including risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what we currently expect. These factors include risks relating to the transition from research and development activities to commercial activities, market acceptance and adoption of the SPY System, sales and distribution risks, dependence on key suppliers for components of the SPY System and the OPTTX System, regulatory and clinical risks, risks relating to the protection of intellectual property, risks inherent in the conduct of research and development activities, including the risk of unfavorable or inconclusive clinical trial outcomes, potential product liability, competition and the risks posed by potential technological advances, and risks relating to fluctuations in the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Canadian dollar.
You should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While Novadaq may elect to, Novadaq is under no obligation and does not undertake to update this information at any particular time.
Novadaq Technologies Inc.
CONTACT: visit our website at www.novadaq.com, or contact Arun Menawat,PhD, MBA, President & CEO, Novadaq Technologies Inc., (905) 629-3822 x 202,amenawat@novadaq.com; Michael Moore, Investor Relations, The Equicom Group,(416) 815-0700 x 241, mmoore@equicomgroup.com