LONDON, June 6, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Amersham Health, a global leader in medical diagnostic imaging and a business of Amersham plc (LSE:AHM) (NYSE:AHM) (OSE:AHM), has obtained EU marketing authorization for Optison(TM) ultrasound heart imaging agent and will begin to market the product in Europe from June 2002.
"This is an important milestone in the development of our franchise in ultrasound diagnostics for the cardiovascular market," said Amersham Health Chief Executive, John Padfield. "We will market Optison(TM) under the Amersham Health name, and with the commercial strength of our European marketing organization behind the product." Optison(TM) is a well-established, second-generation ultrasound medical diagnostic product with a robust capability to image the endocardial borders of the heart. This allows doctors to see abnormalities in the walls of the heart during an ultrasound scanning procedure, enabling more accurate diagnosis of the patient's heart condition and providing guidance for the selection and monitoring of treatment.
Amersham Health entered the cardiovascular ultrasound market with Optison(TM) in 2000, having obtained co-marketing rights to the product from Mallinckrodt Inc (now Tyco Healthcare/ Mallinckrodt) in settlement for litigation. The co-marketing agreement was terminated by Mallinckrodt with effect from December 31, 2001, and Amersham Health is proceeding independently with the life cycle management and commercialization of Optison(TM).
The application for the transfer of the European marketing authorization from Mallinckrodt to Amersham Health was submitted to the EU in February 2002. Approval was issued by the European Commission at the end of April and is valid for all EU countries. Amersham Health has been marketing Optison(TM) in North America since 2000 and has now established a specialist sales force to strengthen its U.S. marketing effort.
Notes to Editors:
About Amersham Health
Amersham Health is a leading global pharmaceutical provider of diagnostic and predictive imaging products and services. Amersham Health is dedicated to providing healthcare professionals with products that expand and improve their diagnostic capabilities and contribute to the treatment of disease. Amersham Health is committed to finding innovative diagnostic and therapeutic solutions with a focus on cardiology, neurology and cancer.
Medical diagnostic products marketed by Amersham Health are used to understand and treat major diseases using x-ray, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MRI), ultrasound and functional imaging. Contrast and radiopharmaceutical imaging products are, in general, injected into the bloodstream to enhance images taken of the structure or function of body organs and tissues. These enhanced diagnostic images enable physicians to more accurately detect, diagnose and treat diseases of the heart, lung, brain and functional abnormalities. In addition, Amersham Health markets products that are used to treat localized tumors such as prostate cancer, or to treat pain from cancer that has spread to bones.
About Amersham plc
Amersham plc is a world leader in medical diagnostics and in life sciences. Headquartered in the U.K., the company had sales of 1.6 billion pounds (approximately U.S. $2.3 billion) in 2001 and has around 9,500 employees worldwide. Its strategy is to build its position as a leading provider of products and technologies enabling disease to be better understood, diagnosed earlier and treated more effectively.
Amersham -- bringing vision to medical discovery.
For additional information, visit the Amersham Health Web site at www.amershamhealth.com or the Amersham plc Web site at www.amersham.com.
Ultrasound Contrast Products
Unenhanced ultrasound is a versatile, non-invasive, low-cost, real-time technique in widespread use by both hospital and office-based cardiologists. It is used extensively in the evaluation of patients with known or suspected coronary arterial disease. However, results are frequently inconclusive due to poor visualization of the endocardial surfaces and further assessment is often required. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound improves delineation of these surfaces and provides further information about cardiac wall motion. With further development, ultrasound diagnostic products may also offer the potential to show perfusion of the myocardium, or how well the heart muscle is being perfused with its local blood supply, thus strengthening the role of ultrasound in the diagnosis of heart disease.