Biocoat and Agion to Develop and Co-market Coatings for Medical Devices

Biocoat, Inc., maker of lubricious HYDAK hydrophilic coatings, and Agion Technologies, the worldwide leader in natural silver-based antimicrobial solutions, have announced a co-marketing agreement to develop and promote a coatings product line featuring Agion's antimicrobial protection for medical devices.

This agreement utilizes technology co-owned and patented by Agion and Biocoat for hyaluronan coatings that incorporate silver-based antimicrobial properties. Coatings that take advantage of this synergistic combination of non-thrombogenicity and antimicrobial properties are now available to device makers for immediate evaluation in their products.

"We believe that Agion's silver zeolite technology and the unique properties of coatings based on hyaluronic acid will be a major advance in medical coatings," said Djoerd Hoekstra, CEO of Biocoat. Dr. Josh Simon, Senior Product Manager for Coating Technologies adds, "This is an exciting development not only because it allows us to produce a lubricious coating with antimicrobial properties, but also because of the market timing and prospects for further development of advanced medical coatings."

"Medical devices that incorporate Agion's natural antimicrobial technology actively inhibit the growth of microbes on the device's surface for the life of the product," said Paul Ford, CEO of Agion Technologies. "This partnership will allow us to extend our antimicrobial protection to medical devices that choose Biocoat as their coatings provider."

Coatings that release silver are used on catheters, particularly central venous and urological catheters, where they have been shown to reduce the amount of microbes found on their surfaces. Recently, Medicare declared it will no longer reimburse hospitals for the treatment of some preventable conditions. This is a strong incentive for companies to develop antimicrobial protected devices for prophylactic and therapeutic use.

Biocoat's HYDAK product line of lubricious hydrophilic coatings are based on hyaluronic acid, which occurs naturally in the body and has non-thrombogenic properties. The hyaluronic acid in the coating can be crosslinked or non-crosslinked on a surface to varying degrees in order to control durability in applications where abrasion may occur.

The cornerstone of Agion technology is silver, a naturally occurring and highly effective antimicrobial agent. Silver has long been known for its antimicrobial properties and Agion's zeolite carrier provides many benefits over other antimicrobials that are alcohol-, chlorine-, or ammonium-based. Silver is proven to be safe with no toxic affects on people, plants or animals. Agion technology operates at the surface of a product through the controlled release of silver ions
which attack microbes and inhibit their growth in three different ways. They offer a variety of silver-based technologies to suit various manufacturing and product requirements.

About Biocoat, Inc.:
Biocoat, Inc., a leader in providing hydrophilic coating technology to medical device companies, is a privately-held corporation with administrative offices, manufacturing, and R&D labs in Horsham, PA. Biocoat develops practical applications of its technologies in partnership with established medical device companies, who license HYDAK and other coatings technologies from Biocoat.

For more information about Biocoat, visit http://www.biocoat.com/. For information on hydrophilic coatings, check out the Hydrophilic Coatings Blog at blog.biocoat.org.

About Agion Technologies, Inc.:
Agion Technologies, located in Wakefield, Massachusetts, is a leader in providing customized, natural, antimicrobial solutions based on silver that continuously inhibits the growth of bacteria, mold and fungus. Agion's antimicrobial technology is used in consumer, industrial and healthcare industries and has been incorporated into a variety of products including cell phones, shoes, keyboards, water filters, medical catheters, and ice machines. Agion's customers include many leading brands such as Motorola, PPG, Carrier, DuPont, Adidas, Scotsman, Stanley Bostitch and Oster. For more information about Agion Technologies, visit http://www.agion-tech.com/.