Cook Launches Web Site for Patients Seeking Information About Peripheral Arterial Disease; Site Provides Information About Drug-Coated Stent in Clinical Trials.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Cook Incorporated announced today that it has launched an educational Web site for consumers about peripheral arterial disease (PAD), including details about its new drug-coated stent clinical trial.

The Web site, www.zilverptxtrial.com, includes information about symptoms, prevention and treatment of PAD. Consumers also can download information to determine with their physicians whether they may be eligible to participate in a worldwide clinical trial testing the safety and effectiveness of the Zilver(R) PTX(TM) Drug-Eluting Stent. This is the first-ever clinical trial to test a paclitaxel-eluting stent to treat PAD.

Peripheral arterial disease is similar to coronary artery disease in that fatty deposits build up in the arteries and block blood flow. The difference is that PAD affects arteries outside the heart and brain, including arteries leading from the heart to the legs, arms, stomach or kidneys. PAD affects approximately 10 million Americans each year; untreated it can result in pain when walking and can lead to gangrene and amputation.

"Cook is pioneering the development of drug-eluting stents to treat diseases outside the heart and is committed to helping consumers understand the technology and the disease - PAD - it currently is in clinical trials to treat," said Kem Hawkins, president of Cook Inc. "Not every patient will be a candidate for Cook's clinical trial, but we're certain consumers will find information on the Web site that will help them discuss with their physician the best treatment."

The Zilver PTX clinical trial is designed to determine the safety and effectiveness of the Zilver PTX paclitaxel-eluting stent to clear blockages above the knee in the femoropopliteal artery (the major artery in the thigh). The stent, a small metal device that acts like a scaffold, is used to prop open the blocked arteries. But in many cases, arteries can become blocked again over time as scar tissue forms around the implanted stent. To prevent the renarrowing of the artery, the Zilver PTX stent is coated with paclitaxel, a drug approved for clinical use as an anti-cancer agent and used successfully with coronary stents to reduce the risk of renarrowing of the artery.

The Zilver PTX trial is being conducted in medical facilities around the world and compares the safety and effectiveness of the drug-eluting stent to standard PAD interventions. The Web site includes details about clinical trial sites, including location and contact information. This allows patients to determine if this clinical trial is being performed at a nearby hospital.

The Zilver PTX stent is an investigational device not approved for sale in the United States.

The world's largest privately held medical device manufacturer with international headquarters in Bloomington, Ind., COOK(R) (www.cookmedical.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 created innovative technologies for stents and stent-grafts, catheters, wire guides, introducer needles and sheaths, embolization coils, medical biomaterials, vena cava filters, implanted cardiac lead extraction equipment and other minimally invasive medical devices.