Minocycline/Rifampin Catheters Shown To Reduce Microbial Resistance

Data Presented at SHEA Disprove Commonly Held Belief That
Antibiotic Impregnated Devices May Increase Resistance to Antibiotics
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.--(Business Wire)--
In a study that confirms the critical role antibiotic-impregnated
catheters can play to combat the significant worldwide death toll from
catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs), a researcher from a
world-renowned medical center has presented clinical evidence that
these devices, in fact, reduce the risk of bacteremia and also the
likelihood that bacteria could become resistant to the antibiotics
used to prevent their colonization. Previously, some medical
researchers had expressed concern that the use of these devices could
promote antimicrobial resistance.

On April 8, 2008 at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of
America's (SHEA) 18th Annual Scientific Conference, Issam I. Raad,
M.D., an infectious disease physician at The University of Texas M. D.
Anderson Cancer Center, presented data demonstrating that after seven
years of extensive use of a central venous catheter impregnated with
minocycline and rifampin the rate of microbial resistance to
minocycline and rifampin actually decreased after use of these
catheters.

"This is a major step forward in the science of eliminating
CRBSIs, which are responsible for 250 deaths daily in the United
States alone," said Charles McIntosh, M.D., chief medical science and
technology officer for Cook Group, which manufactures the advanced
minocycline/rifampin catheter. "Not only does the medical community
now have clinical evidence that catheters impregnated with minocycline
and rifampin are 12 times less likely to result in a bloodstream
infection than catheters coated with antiseptic or invasive agents,
Dr. Raad now has proven that this combination of drugs actually
reduces the risk of bacteria developing antibiotic resistance to the
drugs used in the minocycline and rifampin impregnated catheters."

In his presentation, "Process & Technology: Complimentary, Not
Mutually Exclusive," Dr. Raad noted that after more than 500,000
catheter-days using the antibiotic-impregnated catheter, the rate of
resistance to tetracylines and rifampin dramatically decreased. The
data demonstrated that the percentage of MRSA resistance to
tetracycline decreased from 12 to 7 percent and MRSA resistance to
rifampin decreased from 12 to 4 percent (P < 0.01).

"These significant findings disprove the commonly held belief that
antimicrobial impregnated devices can raise the rates of antibiotic
resistance in patients," said Dr. Raad. "Although both theoretical
reasoning and in vitro data pointed to a very low likelihood of
developing antimicrobial resistance while using antimicrobial
impregnated catheters, the magnitude of resistance, or in this
instance lack thereof, can be most accurately assessed by relying on
clinical findings from studies of both short-term and long-term
vascular catheters."

These results indicate evidence-based guidelines for the
prevention of CRBSIs, a common nosocomial infection that develops when
bacteria enter the blood stream through a central venous catheter.
Conventional catheters that are not impregnated with minocycline and
rifampin can more easily allow bacteria to colonize and spread to the
patient's blood stream. Catheters using the latest technology that are
impregnated with the antibiotics minocycline and rifampin, which act
synergistically to provide broad-spectrum activity against gram
positive and gram negative organisms, can reduce CRBSI rates.

Dr. Raad is the co-inventor of the synergistic pairing of the
antibiotics minocycline and rifampin that are impregnated within the
catheter material of the Cook Spectrum(R) catheter. His institution
receives a royalty payment based upon Cook's license to use this
patented technology.

About Cook Medical:

Cook Medical was one of the first companies to help popularize
interventional medicine, pioneering many of the devices now commonly
used worldwide to perform minimally invasive medical procedures.
Today, the company integrates device design, biopharma, gene and cell
therapy and biotech to enhance patient safety and improve clinical
outcomes in the fields of aortic intervention; interventional
cardiology; critical care medicine; gastroenterology; radiology,
peripheral vascular, bone access and oncology; surgery and soft tissue
repair; urology; and assisted reproductive technology, gynecology and
high-risk obstetrics. Cook is a past winner of the prestigious Medical
Device Manufacturer of the Year Award from Medical Device & Diagnostic
Industry magazine. For more information, visit www.cookmedical.com.

Cook Medical
Dave McCarty, 812-339-2235, ext. 2387
Public Relations Director
Dave.mccarty@cookmedical.com
or
Racepoint Group, Inc.
Palmer Reuther, 781-487-4672
preuther@racepointgroup.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008