PLAINSBORO, N.J., April 29, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq:IART) today reported that more than 1,000 NeuraGen(TM) Nerve Guides have been implanted in patients in the United States in nearly 200 hospitals and surgery centers since the introduction of the product in late 2001.
Surgeons in the specialties of orthopedic hand, plastic and reconstructive, and neurosurgery have used the NeuraGen Nerve Guide to repair peripheral nerves. Common clinical applications include nerve repair in the upper and lower extremities, cranial/facial nerve repair, and brachial plexus reconstruction. The product has also been used in procedures to repair the cavernosal nerve, which is often damaged during prostate surgery.
"NeuraGen is an innovative product that provides the surgeon with a viable alternative to the current standard nerve repair techniques of direct suture and placement of a nerve autograft," commented Neal Naff, M.D., a neurosurgeon at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Naff has performed brachial plexus reconstruction procedures using the NeuraGen product.
Integra recently introduced the NeuraGen product in Europe at a joint meeting of the American and British Associations for Hand Surgery held April 7-9, 2003 in Cambridge, England. Integra also plans to exhibit NeuraGen at the annual meeting of the Federation of European Societies for Surgery of the Hand (FESSH) June 25-28 in Lisbon, Portugal. The product will be sold through the Integra NeuroSciences(tm) direct sales force in the United Kingdom and Germany and through distributors in other countries worldwide.
The NeuraGen product is sold through the Integra NeuroSciences' and Integra Padgett Instruments' sales organizations.
Integra NeuroSciences is a leading provider of implants, devices, instruments, and systems used in neurosurgery, neuromonitoring, neurotrauma, and related critical care. Integra NeuroSciences' direct selling effort in the United States and Europe currently involves more than 100 professionals. In all other markets, Integra NeuroSciences products are sold through a network of distributors.
Integra Padgett Instruments markets a wide variety of high quality, reusable surgical instruments to plastic and reconstructive surgeons, burn surgeons, ENT surgeons, hospitals, surgery centers, and other physicians. Padgett markets its surgical instruments primarily through an eight-person sales force in the United States. Outside the Unites States, Padgett sells its products through a network of distributors.
Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation is a diversified medical technology company that develops, manufactures, and markets medical devices for use in a variety of applications. The primary applications for our products are neuro-trauma and neurosurgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and soft tissue repair. Integra is a leader in applying the principles of biotechnology to medical devices that improve patients' quality of life. The Company has its corporate headquarters in Plainsboro, New Jersey, with manufacturing and research facilities located throughout the world. The Company has approximately 860 permanent employees.
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the adoption of new products, including the NeuraGen Nerve Guide. The accuracy of such forward-looking statements is necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from predicted or expected results. Among other things, the willingness of physicians, hospitals and health care systems to adopt the NeuraGen product may affect Integra's ability to expand its customer base. In addition, the economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors identified under the heading "Risk Factors" included in the Business section of Integra's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002 and information contained in subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission could affect actual results.