Message #32 From:
Stock News Bot Date: December 4, 2006 05:30:00 AM
CLRI News Clearant Signs Supply Agreement with California Tissue Bank to Directly Distribute Sterile Sports Medicine Implants Throughout the USA
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Clearant, Inc. (OTCBB:CLRI) today announced that it has signed a
multi-year agreement with Tissue Banks International (TBI), a non-profit
provider of tissues for orthopedic, spinal, sports medicine, and
urologic surgery, for the supply of Clearant Process®
sports medicine implants. This agreement allows Clearant, Inc. to
participate in a $350 million per year market.
“At TBI we believe that providing sterile
tissue is an imperative safety precaution and we are proud to have
offered Clearant’s sterilized sports medicine
implants since 2004,” said James Forsell, PhD,
Senior Vice-President for processing, TBI. “We’re
confident that the Clearant Process is a safe pathogen inactivation
process available to sterilize tissue allograft implants while allowing
patients to regain their full range of motion following surgery. We look
forward to working with Clearant to expand availability of the Clearant
Process.”
“As the first U.S. tissue bank to offer
Clearant Process sterilized tissues, TBI demonstrated that safety has
always been a high priority for them,” said
Clearant Chief Executive Officer Alain Delongchamp. “We’re
pleased with our longstanding relationship with TBI and look forward to
continue working together to provide leading surgeons and clinics with
Clearant Process sterile implants. We believe that, under our direct
distribution initiative, we will be able to increase the number of
surgeons using Clearant Process sterile implants.”
The Clearant Process is a sterilization technology that virtually
eliminates the risk of infection in bone and soft-tissue allograft
implants while preserving their functional viability. This patented
methodology inactivates all types of viruses, including HIV, and
Hepatitis A and C, and achieves a level of microbial sterility that
meets or exceeds the level of medical device sterility.
About Clearant, Inc.
Clearant, Inc. is a leader in pathogen inactivation for biological
products. Clearant has developed the patent-protected Clearant Process,
which substantially reduces all types of bacteria and viruses in
biological products while maintaining the functionality of the
underlying tissue implant or protein. The Company began to distribute
directly to surgeons, hospitals and clinics Clearant Process sterile
implants in June 2006; in addition, Clearant continues to license the
Clearant Process and provides its patented sterilization services to
tissue banks and other biological products manufacturers. As of the end
of 1Q 2006, Clearant had 10 license and service agreements with tissue
banks. To date more than 9,000 patients have been successfully implanted
with Clearant Process sterile implants supplied by one of the Company's
licensed partners. Whereas various competing sterilization methods only
kill specific types of pathogens (such as bacteria or lipid-enveloped
viruses) for specific products, the Clearant Process reduces all types
of pathogens for products across many market segments including tissue
implants, plasma proteins, recombinant products, medical devices and
blood products. Also, the Clearant Process can be applied at various
stages of product processing and/or manufacturing, including in the
final packaging. For more information, please visit www.clearant.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in
this press release are forward looking and made pursuant to the Safe
Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, in particular statements regarding surgeons strongly recommending
the use of implants with tissue treated by the CLEARANT PROCESS, and the
conclusions from a study by surgeons to build demand for sterilized
tissue.These forward-looking statements reflect numerous
assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of
which are beyond the company's control, which may cause actual results
to differ materially from stated expectations. These risk factors
include, among others, limited operating history, difficulty in
developing, exploiting and protecting proprietary technologies, results
of additional clinical studies, acceptance and success of our direct
distribution of allografts, efficacy of the technology, intense
competition and substantial regulation in the biotechnology industry,
and additional risks discussed in the company's filings with the SEC,
available on the SEC web site http://www.sec.gov.
