New Cat B 750 FAST imaging agent launched by VisEn Medical

VisEn Medical Inc., a leader in fluorescence in vivo imaging from research through medicine, announced today the commercial launch of its new Cat B 750 FAST(TM) imaging agent for measuring and monitoring cathepsin B activity associated with disease progression and therapeutic response in vivo. Cathepsin B expression is well known as a key biomarker and therapeutic target in a range of diseases, including atherosclerosis, oncology, and arthritis. The new agent is expected to have a significant impact in cardiovascular disease research, and is being launched at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2009 in Orlando.

Cathepsin B proteases play an important role in disease progression and host response in several disease areas, and are key biomarkers in assessing and characterizing disease states. The new Cat B 750 FAST(TM) agent is designed to complement in vitro and in vivo protease readouts from cell-based assays and VisEn's existing in vivo agent product lines, providing earlier imaging time points and narrower specificity profiles of cathepsin B within the cathepsin family of proteases.

The new Cat B 750 FAST(TM) agent represents an additional protease-sensing agent developed from VisEn's new FAST ("Fluorescent Activatable Sensor Technology") in vivo agent platform. FAST agents are based on high-performance activatable smaller molecules that combine advanced biomarker specificity with optimized biocompatibility and rapid pharmacokinetics. These benefits allow for precise measurement and monitoring of key disease biomarkers in vivo.

VisEn also announced the commercial availability of its ReninSense680 FAST(TM) agent for localized in vivo measurement of changes in renin-angiotensin system (RAS) involved in hypertension and some neurological diseases.

"We continue to be very pleased with the rapidly expanding capability and adoption of our fluorescence agents and FMT imaging systems as a standard in measuring key biologic pathways and biomarkers in vivo," said Kirtland Poss, President and CEO of VisEn. "We look forward to working further with our customers in advancing their research and therapeutic development in these important disease areas."

VisEn's proprietary fluorescence imaging agents and labels are designed to provide the industry's broadest and most robust range of biologically-specific imaging readouts in vivo. VisEn offers over 30 different fluorescence molecular agents for imaging key disease-associated biologic targets, processes and pathways. VisEn agent brands include ProSense®, IntegriSense(TM), AngioSense(TM), OsteoSense®, MMPSense(TM), Cat K FAST(TM), Annexin-Vivo(TM), and now ReninSense FAST and Cat B FAST. VisEn also offers specialized lines of in vivo agent labeling platforms, including its proprietary VivoTag® fluorescence labeling dyes for custom agent development and its NanoSpark® labeling nanoparticles. They are all designed and optimized specifically for superior biocompatibility, brightness, stability and performance in in vivo imaging.

All VisEn agents and labels are designed for in vivo biomarker quantification using VisEn's Fluorescence Molecular Tomography (FMT(TM)) imaging systems, or for general use along with other non-quantitative fluorescence in vivo imaging systems. VisEn agents are also designed to enable complementary in vitro biomarker readouts in cells and tissues using standard fluorescence microscopy and cellular-based imaging systems. With a focus on translational research and results, all of VisEn's technologies are designed to generate translational data linking pre-clinical research into clinical medicine.

SOURCE VisEn Medical Inc.