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MIV Therapeutics Executes Agreement to Collaborate on Future Drug Eluting Stent Technologies with Sahajanand VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2006--MIV Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCBB:MIVT - News; FWB:MIV), a
leading developer of new generation biocompatible coatings and
advanced drug delivery systems for cardiovascular stents and other
implantable medical devices, announced today that it has entered a
collaborative agreement with Sahajanand Medical Technologies, a
manufacturer of stents and drug-eluting stents.
The strategic collaboration supersedes MIVT's previously announced letter of intent to acquire Sahajanand in a stock-based transaction. Since the newly announced collaboration will not require the Company to issue the approximately 53 million new shares that would have been used in an acquisition of Sahajanand, significant shareholder dilution will be avoided. "We believe this newly announced collaborative approach will best serve MIVT and its shareholders. It will give MIVT access to Sahajanand's value as a strategic partner, as well as their global market presence, without requiring the high expense and shareholder dilution of an acquisition," said Alan P. Lindsay, CEO of MIVT. "In light of MIVT's better-than-anticipated growth in market capitalization and our scientific development during the last year, and following thorough due-diligence with respect to the proposed acquisition of Sahajanand, both managements have concluded that this restructured strategic partnership, rather than acquisition, is the most advantageous path." Mr. Lindsay further explained: "In the year since our initial agreement to explore the acquisition of Sahajanand, MIVT has progressed and evolved substantially as a Company, both in terms of our technology and in the growth of shareholder value. At last count we had expanded our intellectual property portfolio to a total of 43 U.S. and international patents and patent applications. We've met and exceeded all key important scientific and clinical development milestones in development of our biocompatible coatings and drug-delivery systems, and we have been invited to report on our research and development progress at leading industry conferences. In addition the significance and potential value of our technology to the worldwide stent and medical device marketplace has been recognized by independent industry analysts, including the prestigious Frost & Sullivan 2005 Award for Technology Innovation in the Field of Medical Coatings. In light of this progress, Management decided that this strategy will provide us with the highest degree of flexibility in executing our research and development programs and our strategic business initiatives." Dhirajlal Kotadia, founder and CEO of Sahajanand, said the agreement was designed to provide valuable mutual benefits to both companies, by creating synergies between both Companies' cutting-edge technologies and products. "I believe this partnership will enable us to develop important solutions for the worldwide cardiovascular marketplace for stents and advanced drug-eluing stents," he said. About MIV Therapeutics Inc. MIV Therapeutics is developing a next-generation line of advanced biocompatible coatings for passive and drug-eluting applications on cardiovascular stents and a broad range of other implantable medical devices. The Company's ultra-thin coating formulation is designed to protect surrounding tissue from potentially harmful interactions with bare metallic stents. The Company's unique ultra-thin coating platform is derived from an organic material called hydroxyapatite (HAp) which has demonstrated excellent safety and biocompatibility in vivo animal studies. Hydroxyapatite is a bioactive porous material that makes up the bone mineral and matrix of teeth and is widely used today as a bone substitute material and for coatings on implantable fixation devices in orthopedic, dental and other applications. The Company's novel polymer-free drug eluting technologies based on Hydroxyapatite could also provide an attractive alternative to current polymer-based drug eluting coatings on the stent market, which have been associated with undesirable medical effects. The Company's drug eluting coatings are additionally designed to suit a broad range of implantable medical devices that could benefit from highly customizable drug release profiles. MIVT has a Collaborative Research Agreement (CRA) with the University of British Columbia and has received Government grant for its research program on the "Development of Novel Drug Eluting Composite Coatings for Cardiovascular Stents," under the National Research Council-Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP). Under this sponsorship, the Company is expected to complete its drug-eluting research and development program and to reach product commercialization stage. For more information, please visit http://www.trilogy-capital.com/tcp/mivt/website.html. To read or download MIV Therapeutics' Investor Fact Sheet, visit http://www.trilogy-capital.com/tcp/mivt/factsheet.html. To obtain daily and historical Company stock quote data, and recent Company news releases, visit http://www.trilogy-capital.com/tcp/html/mivt.htm. MIVT is traded on the Frankfurt, Germany, stock exchange under the symbol MIV. Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements. Such statements are indicated by words or phrases such as "believe," "will," "breakthrough," "significant," "indicated," "feel," "revolutionary," "should," "ideal," "extremely" and "excited." These statements are made under "Safe Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties. See the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, without limitation, the Company's recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Qs, which identify specific factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Contact: MIV Therapeutics Inc. Investor Relations, 604-301-9545 x14 Toll-free: 800-221-5108 Fax: 604-301-9546 E-mail: investor@mivtherapeutics.com Web: http://www.mivtherapeutics.com/ or, for Product Inquiries and Business Opportunities: Arc Rajtar, 604-301-9545 Ext. 22 arajtar@mivi.ca or Trilogy Capital Partners Paul Karon, Toll-free: 800-342-1467 paul@trilogy-capital.com Source: MIV Therapeutics Inc.
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