SurModics and OakRiver Technology Collaborate on Advanced Coating Equipment
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.--Oct. 31, 2007--SurModics, Inc. (Nasdaq:SRDX), a leading provider of surface modification and drug delivery technologies to the healthcare industry, announced today an agreement with OakRiver Technology, Inc. to collaborate on the development, manufacture, distribution and ongoing support of advanced coating equipment for the medical device industry.
Under the terms of the agreement, OakRiver has licensed SurModics'coating process know-how and other intellectual property and will build highly automated equipment for medical device customers. One OakRiver equipment platform is optimized for coating medical devices utilizing SurModics' PhotoLink® coating technologies, and is ideal for coating catheters, guide wires, pacing leads and other similar medical devices. A second OakRiver equipment platform is optimized for SurModics' drug delivery polymer systems. SurModics and OakRiver will jointly market the coating equipment to medical device customers.
"We are very excited to work with OakRiver as our preferred coating equipment supplier for our surface modification and drug delivery customers," said Bruce Barclay, President and CEO of SurModics. "The jointly developed equipment will benefit SurModics'customers by simplifying manufacturing processes, enhancing yields and lowering manufacturing costs. While our coatings have become the gold standard in the medical device industry on the basis of their technical performance, providing coating equipment that better meets customers' manufacturing needs will allow us to offer a more complete solution. In addition, OakRiver and SurModics will be able to provide ongoing chemistry and equipment support to our customers, ensuring optimum performance on the manufacturing floor."
"OakRiver's engineering team has worked closely with the technical personnel at SurModics to design, develop and implement high performance, highly flexible manufacturing solutions optimized for SurModics' coating technologies," said Rick Shand, CEO of OakRiver. "We are pleased to partner with the world's broadest provider of coating technologies for the medical device and pharmaceutical markets."
About SurModics, Inc.
SurModics, Inc. is a leading provider of surface modification and drug delivery technologies to the healthcare industry. SurModics partners with the world's foremost medical device, pharmaceutical and life science companies to develop and commercialize innovative products that result in better patient outcomes. Core offerings include: drug delivery technologies (coatings, microparticles, and implants); surface modification coating technologies that impart lubricity, prohealing, and biocompatibility capabilities; and components for in vitro diagnostic test kits and specialized surfaces for cell culture and microarrays. Collaborative efforts include a sustained drug delivery system in human trials for treatment of retinal disease and the drug delivery polymer matrix on the first-to-market drug-eluting coronary stent. SurModics is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota and its Brookwood Pharmaceuticals subsidiary is located in Birmingham, Alabama. For more information about the company, visit www.surmodics.com. The content of SurModics' web site is not part of this release or part of any filings the company makes with the SEC.
About OakRiver Technology, Inc.
OakRiver Technology, Inc. is a leading designer and manufacturer of high-precision process automation equipment for the medical device industry, serving the cardiac rhythm management, catheter and stent systems, and vascular markets. OakRiver has leveraged its process automation technology to develop a line of standard medical device coating equipment for hydrophilic and drug delivery applications.
Additionally, OakRiver manufactures complex automated OEM products and sub systems. Founded in 1999, OakRiver is a private company located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. For more information about the company, visit www.OakRiver.biz.
