Press Releases
ARBIOS SYSTEMS CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER PRESENTS AT THE ACUTE LIVER FAILURE WORKSHOP, SPONSORED BY THE NIH
Jacek Rozga Invited to Present Rationale for the SEPET™ Liver Assist Device
WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS – DECEMBER 5, 2006 -- Arbios Systems, Inc. (OTC: ABOS), a company developing proprietary medical devices and cell-based therapies for the millions of patients each year who experience or are at risk for life-threatening episodes of liver failure, today announced that Jacek Rozga, M.D., Ph.D., Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, has been invited to present at The Acute Liver Failure Workshop, which began yesterday and continues today at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda, in Bethesda, MD. The meeting is sponsored by the Liver Disease Research Branch of the Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other federal agencies.
Dr. Rozga’s presentation, entitled, “Plasma Filtration Therapy of Acute Liver Failure, takes place this morning, December 5th at 10:50 a.m. Eastern Time. His presentation focused on rationales for use of Arbios’ SEPET™ Liver Assist Device technology for removal from the blood of small and middle molecular weight molecules, including inflammatory cytokines and conventional toxins including those bound to albumin, which are implicated in poor patient outcomes from acute liver failure. Dr. Rozga will further address rationales for potential benefit of SEPET™ plasma filtration therapy in the treatment of conditions related to, and often arising as a result of, liver failure, including multi-organ failure, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and severe sepsis. Dr. Rozga will also summarize the previously announced favorable progress of Arbios’ ongoing feasibility clinical trial of the SEPET™ Liver Assist Device.
About The Acute Liver Failure Workshop
To aim of the Acute Liver Failure Meeting, which brings together some of the best scientific minds in the medical community, is to assess current knowledge about acute liver failure, including its causes, incidence, natural history, management, and prevention. The meeting will also make recommendations for directions for future research, both basic and clinical. Topics will include: epidemiology; current causes and secular trends in distribution of etiologies; natural history and course; specific and nonspecific management; acetaminophen as a cause of liver injury and intentional vs. unintentional acetaminophen overdose; causes of acute liver injury in children and the role of acetaminophen; autoimmunity as a cause of acute liver failure; changes in frequency of viral hepatitis as a cause of acute liver failure; liver transplantation, including living donor liver transplantation; innovative therapies for acute liver failure including hypothermia and role of bioartificial liver support systems and albumin dialysis. The workshop will also focus on needs for future research.
About SEPET™ Liver Assist Device
The SEPET™ Liver Assist Device is a sterile, disposable cartridge containing microporous hollow fibers with unique permeability characteristics. When a patient's blood is passed through these fibers, blood plasma components of specific molecular weights are expressed through the micropores, thereby cleansing the blood of harmful impurities (i.e., hepatic failure toxins as well as various mediators of inflammation and inhibitors of liver regeneration). These substances would otherwise progressively accumulate in the patient's bloodstream during liver failure, causing hypotension, increasing risk of sepsis development and accelerating damage to the liver, lungs and other organs, including the brain and kidneys, and suppressing the function and regeneration of the liver. SEPET™ is designed for use with standard blood dialysis systems available in hospital intensive care units.
About Liver Disease
According to the American Liver Foundation, chronic liver disease is the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S., resulting in approximately $10 billion in annual healthcare costs. The World Health Organization estimates that 20 million people worldwide have cirrhosis of the liver and/or liver cancer, arising predominantly among the estimated 500 million persons (nearly 10% of the world population) who are afflicted with persistent hepatitis B or hepatitis C viral infections. Liver failure may also result from excessive alcohol consumption, aggressive forms of fatty liver disease or other chronic liver disorders. It can also be caused by ingestion of common medications, such as acetaminophen, contaminated herbal medicines, or toxic mushrooms. An estimated one to two million persons worldwide die each year from liver failure, with more than 50,000 deaths per year in the United States. Liver failure typically develops slowly, and its progression usually goes unnoticed until it becomes life-threatening. It occurs in persons of all ages but is most common (representing the fifth leading cause of death) among 25 to 65 year olds.
There is currently no satisfactory therapy available to treat patients in liver failure, other than maintenance and monitoring of vital functions and keeping patients stable through provision of intravenous fluids and blood products, administration of antibiotics and support of vital functions, such as respiration. While a patient's liver may regenerate on its own to varying degrees, a chronic liver failure patient often continues to lose more and more liver cell mass and function as the disease progresses and ultimately needs to undergo liver transplant surgery. A shortage of livers and other factors make such therapy unavailable to the large majority of liver failure patients worldwide.
Arbios Systems, Inc. is developing proprietary medical devices and cell-based therapies to enhance the survival of millions of patients each year who experience, or are at risk for, life-threatening episodes of liver failure. The Arbios product candidate portfolio includes the SEPET™ Liver Assist Device, a novel blood purification therapy that provides enhanced "liver dialysis," and the HepatAssist™ Cell-Based Liver Support System, a bioartificial liver that combines blood detoxification with liver cell therapy to replace whole liver function in patients with the most severe forms of liver failure. For more information on the Company, please visit http://www.arbios.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in the forward-looking statements, including risks or uncertainties related to the goals and results of clinical trials, compliance with regulatory requirements, labeling of the Company's products, the need for subsequent substantial additional financing to complete clinical development of its products, future markets and demand for the Company's products, and Arbios' ability to successfully market its products and technologies. These statements represent the judgment of Arbios' management as of this date and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could materially affect the Company. Arbios cautions investors that there can be no assurance that actual results or business conditions will not differ materially from those projected or suggested in such forward-looking statements. Please refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005 for a description of risks that may affect our results or business conditions. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to such forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events except as required by law. SEPET™ and HepatAssist™ are trademarks of Arbios Systems, Inc.
