Angiotech's corporate partner, Cook Medical, announces positive interim results for its Zilver(R) PTX(TM) clin...( Interim Results Show Promise for Im...)

Interim Results Show Promise for Improving the Treatment of Blockages in

the Femoropopliteal Artery

VANCOUVER, June 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANPI, TSX: ANP), a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company, today announced that its corporate partner, Cook Medical, has reported positive interim results from the registry arm of a clinical study measuring the effectiveness of its Zilver PTX drug-eluting peripheral stent in treating peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The results, which were reported by the trial investigators last week at the 2008 SVS Vascular Annual Meeting, revealed clinical improvement, excellent durability and fracture resistance, and high rates of event-free survival (EFS) and freedom from target lesion revascularization (TLR). In addition, the Zilver stent exhibited no safety concerns and results were better than expected for TASC class C and D lesions, occlusions, in-stent restenosis and lesions greater than seven centimetres (2.75 inches).

"Building on the success of our paclitaxel-eluting coronary stents, we are extremely pleased that Cook has met with early success in leveraging our technology with this first round of positive trial data for the Zilver PTX paclitaxel-eluting peripheral stent," said Dr. William Hunter, President and CEO of Angiotech. "We are hopeful that Cook will encounter similarly positive results throughout the duration of the Zilver PTX trial and we are excited about the potential benefits the Zilver PTX stent may provide patients suffering from PAD."

Interim data was compiled at six and 12 months using 435 patients and 200 patients, respectively. The corresponding EFS rates were 94 percent and
'/>"/>