Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Cook Incorporated To Release Major Drug-Eluting Stent Data At American Heart Association Meeting.

Business Editors and Health/Medical Writers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2001

Angiotech (Nasdaq:ANPI) (TSE:ANP.) Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ANPI)(TSE:ANP) was notified today by Cook Incorporated, the world leader in developing paclitaxel-coated coronary stents for the treatment of restenosis, that Cook, Inc. will present unblinded data including restenosis rates from its European-based ELUTES clinical trial at next week's American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions in Anaheim, Calif.

Researchers representing the privately held medical device company also will make updated presentations on Cook's Asian-based ASPECT trial and a smaller pilot study of in-stent restenosis at AHA.

Principal investigator Dr. Anthony Gershlick, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, England, will present the ELUTES (EvaLUation of pacliTaxel-Eluting Stent) trial results Sunday, November 11, 2001 at approximately 12:35 PM PST (3:35 PM ET). The presentation will be part of AHA's session titled: "Bench to Bedside and Beyond," to be held in the Marriott Hotel, Pacific Ballroom D.

Cook will conduct a joint conference call with its coated stent partner, Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, at 10:00 AM PST (1:00 PM ET) on Tuesday, November 13, to discuss the results. The conference call will be webcast on Angiotech's website at www.angiotech.com. A recording of the call will be available until Tuesday, November 20 by calling 800/558-5253 and entering Access Code 19968262.

Cook designed its multi-armed ELUTES study to assess the safety and efficacy of four doses of paclitaxel versus an uncoated Cook V-Flex(tm) Plus stent. This dose-ranging study included dosages of 0.2 mcg/mm2; 0.7 mcg/mm2; 1.4 mcg/mm2 and 2.7 mcg/mm2.

Patients were evaluated at six months using angiography, analyzed by an independent core angiographic laboratory, to determine the effectiveness of each dose of paclitaxel in reducing the rate of restenosis in patients undergoing coronary artery angioplasty and stenting. Researchers also determined the trial's rate of major adverse coronary events (MACE), adjudicated by an independent clinical events committee. The ELUTES study data will be used by Cook in its submission for CE Mark approval to market a paclitaxel-coated coronary stent in the European Community. Approval is anticipated in the second quarter of 2002.

Previous clinical studies have shown that paclitaxel-coated stents dramatically inhibited neointimal hyperplasia, as evidenced by angiography and IVUS evaluations at six months. Cook Incorporated expects that data from the ELUTES trial will confirm the dose-response relationship demonstrated in its earlier ASPECT trial.

Other sessions of interest to journalists covering drug-eluting coronary stent news at AHA include:

-- Dr. Seung-Jung Park: "The Clinical Effectiveness of Paclitaxel-Coated
Coronary Stents for the Reduction of Restenosis in the ASPECT Trial," Nov. 12,
3:00 to 3:15 p.m.

-- Dr. Won Huem Shim: "Angiographic Appearance of Coronary Arteries After Four
to Six Month Implantation of Paclitaxel-Coated Stents," Nov. 13, 2:45-3:00 p.m.


-- Dr. Ivan De Scheerder: "Treatment of In-Stent Restenosis Using Paclitaxel
Eluting Stents -- A Single Centre Pilot Trial." Nov. 14, 9:00 to 11:30 a.m.

With international headquarters in Bloomington, Ind., privately held COOK(r) (www.cookgroup.com/) is a leading designer, manufacturer and global distributor of minimally invasive medical device technology for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Since its founding in 1963, COOK has been committed to product innovation, skilled hand-craftsmanship and unsurpassed customer satisfaction, earning the company global recognition among medical professionals. Cook Incorporated is acknowledged as an innovator in catheter technology, wire guides, introducer needles and sheaths, stents and stent-grafts, embolization coils, drainage catheters, tissue-engineered medical biomaterials, vena cava filters, implanted cardiac lead extraction technology and other minimally invasive devices. More than 40 companies in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia design, produce, manufacture and distribute COOK brand medical devices to physicians and other medical professionals around the world.

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a Canadian pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of medical device coatings and treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases through reformulation of the anticancer drug, paclitaxel. Several pharmaceutical therapies are in clinical development: systemic Micellar Paclitaxel for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (Phase 2), rheumatoid arthritis (Phase 1) and severe psoriasis (Pilot Phase 2). The paclitaxel-coated coronary stent program is currently in international clinical safety and efficacy studies. Other medical device programs include paclitaxel-loaded surgical implants for the treatment of restenosis associated with peripheral vascular surgery and for the treatment of proliferative ocular conditions.

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