PLYMOUTH, MA (September 17, 2002) - Harvest®Technologies Corporation announced today that it signed an agreement with LifeCell Corporation (Nasdaq: LIFC) granting LifeCell the exclusive right for the co-promotion of the SmartPReP system in the United States to hospital based ENT, plastic and general surgeons. Harvest will continue to market and distribute the SmartPRep system to the dental, chronic wound and private clinic plastic and ENT markets. DePuy AcroMed, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company currently distributes the SmartPReP system worldwide under the name Symphony in the hospital based spinal, orthopedic and sports medicine markets.
Harvest Technologies' goal is to improve surgical outcomes by harvesting, concentrating and providing to the clinician proteins that act to accelerate the wound healing process. The technology is completely automated, requires only 15 minutes, uses only a small sample of the patient's blood (20 cc) and is performed at point of care. Harvest's SmartPrep System incorporates the Company's proprietary floating shelf disposable technology and a proprietary decanting centrifuge. The systems performance is completely independent of the operator due to the combination of the floating shelf disposable and a totally automated approach. This assures a consistent and reliable wound healing protein load yielding predictable clinical outcomes.
Mr. Kevin Benoit, General Manager of Harvest stated: "Predictability and efficacy of regenerative treatments are the two most important factors for improved medical outcomes. Additional factors include offering medical professionals a cost-effective approach with a technology that is safe and easy to implement. We believe interest in autologous, affordable, easy to use products like the Harvest SmartPReP System provide the clinician with the ability to regenerate damaged tissue, representing a large potential untapped market. Preliminary distribution activities are already underway across the United States and physicians are expressing their enthusiasm for the system's safety and cost efficiencies as well as the technology's future possibilities. A national release is planned for later this year."
Harvest Technologies develops, manufactures and markets the SmartPReP System for the preparation and application of a biomaterial comprised of concentrations of wound healing proteins. The SmartPReP System is the only commercially available product that offers a customer the ability to produce consistently high dose of growth factor proteins across a diverse patient and operator population with automated easy to use format.
LifeCell Corporation develops and markets biologic products for the repair or replacement of damaged or inadequate tissues. The Company's core preservation technology produces an acellular tissue matrix, which retains the essential biochemical and structural components necessary for normal tissue regeneration. LifeCell currently markets three products based on its tissue matrix technology: AlloDerm® for the plastic reconstructive, burn, and dental markets; Cymetra™ for the plastic reconstructive and dermatology markets; and Repliform™ for the urogynecology market through its partnership with Boston Scientific Corporation.
For more information contact:
Harvest Technologies Corporation