EnteroMedics Enters Into
Exclusive Obesity Device Research and Development Agreement
with Mayo Clinic
ST. PAUL, MN – MARCH 29, 2005
EnteroMedics Inc., a leading developer of
medical devices for the treatment of obesity and gastrointestinal
disorders, announced today that the Mayo Foundation for Medical
Education and Research (Mayo Foundation), Rochester, MN, has
entered into an exclusive collaborative obesity device research
and development agreement with the company. Through this agreement,
EnteroMedics will collaborate with a group of physicians and
researchers at Mayo Clinic in the field of obesity. Under the
terms of this five-year agreement, EnteroMedics and this group
of Mayo specialists will collectively work toward the development
of new and innovative medical devices for the treatment of
obesity. The agreement also includes a similar collaboration
for the development of products to address a wide variety of
disorders susceptible to treatment by electrically blocking
neural impulses on the vagus nerve.
The agreement provides EnteroMedics with
exclusive rights to obesity-related device inventions developed
through this collaboration. As part of this agreement, EnteroMedics
also has in-licensed several obesity-related patent applications
from Mayo Clinic. These patent applications cover a number
of novel concepts (including novel gastric by-pass concepts)
for treating obesity with medical devices.
"Mayo Clinic is one of the world's
premier healthcare organizations and a leading authority on
obesity and obesity therapeutic devices. We are pleased that
Mayo Clinic has elected to work with EnteroMedics to further
the development of innovative obesity treatments," said
Mark Knudson, Ph.D., president and CEO of EnteroMedics. "We
believe that our relationship with Mayo Clinic in the field
of gastrointestinal disorders, including obesity, will provide
valuable insight and resources, with the ultimate goal of helping
people who suffer from such conditions."
The Mayo group of physicians and researchers
is also enthusiastic about the collaboration. "Mayo has
long recognized the relationship between obesity and health
and is excited about this opportunity to work with EnteroMedics
to improve patient care and ultimately the lives of people
who deal with obesity and it's related health problems," stated
Dr. William Sandborn, gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic Rochester.
EnteroMedics' lead product candidate is
an implantable system for the treatment of obesity. Based on
the company's Vagal Smart Modulation™ (VSM™) therapeutic
platform, the product is designed to down-regulate (controllably
block) the activity of the vagus nerve. The superior versatility
of the VSM platform would make it the first technology to simultaneously
control multiple major biological functions related to obesity,
including food intake, hunger perception and digestion.
By acting on these key functions, the VSM
technology will allow patients to avoid major surgery, while
also providing significant advantages as compared to current
drug or device treatments that only address one or two such
causes of obesity. Furthermore, VSM treatment is reversible
and can be adjusted and programmed to meet an individual patient's
treatment needs.
About EnteroMedics
EnteroMedics Inc. is developing novel medical devices to treat obesity and
gastrointestinal disorders through modulation (controllable, reversible modification)
of vagus nerve activity. EnteroMedics' products are based on the company's
proprietary Vagal Smart Modulation™ (VSM™) system. This technology,
which is designed to control vagus nerve signals to key organs, including
the stomach and pancreas, offers targeted therapeutic outcomes not currently
available with existing technologies. The company's lead product is currently
in clinical development for the treatment of obesity.
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