Vasca, Inc. Appoints New Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Marketing.

TEWKSBURY, Mass.--(BW HealthWire)--Dec. 13, 1999--

Vasca, Inc. a medical device company focusing on the development of subcutaneous access devices for end stage renal disease dialysis patients, today announced the appointment of Karen Wilson as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Marketing.

Prior to joining Vasca, Karen was a Senior Executive with Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA), which is the largest dialysis provider in the world. Ms. Wilson, who is a dual graduate of the University of Detroit, has both a nursing degree and a Masters in Administration. Ms. Wilson brings over twenty-one years of diverse dialysis industry experience to Vasca. Starting her career as a dialysis nurse, Karen moved through various management positions of increasing responsibility. While with FMCNA, Karen held the position of Vice President, Hemodialysis which included extensive involvement in product development and new product launches. She also had responsibility as Senior Vice President of the Spectra Renal Management Division which included the management of the Clinical Diagnostics Division responsible for sophisticated imaging of patient's vascular access.

The LifeSite(R) Hemodialysis Access System is the first new option for patients requiring hemodialysis in over a decade. Hemodialysis is the process of removing waste and excess fluid from the blood utilizing an artificial kidney machine. The clean blood is returned to the patients' body by tubes that connect to the kidney machine. Hemodialysis requires a reliable access technology for optimal therapy delivery. Poor dialysis access marginalizes the delivery of the therapy.

The National Kidney Foundation established a Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative (DOQI) in 1997, where standards and guidelines of vascular access were established. "This problem of access is complex," said Tom Glover, CEO and President, "due to the fact that the vascular access is generally placed in the patient in the hospital while the subsequent dialysis treatments occur in a dialysis center."

Mr. Glover also notes that Karen is a strategic hire for Vasca and a critical addition to complement the existing management team. From its founding in 1996, Vasca has approached the challenge of dialysis access by drawing from both medical device and renal management expertise. This approach is necessitated because the problems associated with dialysis access affect both the dialysis provider and hospital side.

Ms. Wilson said upon her appointment, "Better access to the patients' vasculature provides the potential for improving the patients' quality of life and reducing the overall cost of care. Vasca is committed to providing better and immediate access to the patients' bloodstream without the traditional complications associated with vascular access."

More than 850,000 people worldwide undergo chronic renal dialysis treatment each year. Creating and maintaining a suitable access site is one of the most challenging and expensive components of the process, and is a leading cause of hospitalization for chronic hemodialysis patients. Dialysis access placement, repair and morbidity consume over $7.5 billion worldwide each year.

Vasca Inc., founded April 1996 develops proprietary technologies that provide improvements in dialysis access. Currently approved for use in Europe and Canada, the LifeSite Hemodialysis Access System is completing clinical trials in the U.S., Vasca says it expects to commercialize its LifeSite Hemodialysis Access System in the U.S. by mid 2000.

For more information on Vasca, Inc. visit the company website at: www.vasca.com.