Arbios Provides Company Update at First Annual Stockholders Meeting
July 07 2005 - 1:32PM
PR Newswire (US)
Arbios Provides Company Update at First Annual Stockholders Meeting
SEPET(TM) Liver Assist Device Advancing into Clinical Trials LOS
ANGELES, July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arbios Systems, Inc. (OTC
Bulletin Board: ABOS) a biomedical device company developing
proprietary liver assist devices for the treatment of liver
failure, held its first Annual Meeting of Stockholders today. Amy
Factor, Chief Executive Officer of Arbios, provided a corporate
update. The Company announced that it will be starting a clinical
trial to assess the safety and tolerability, as well as indications
of clinical utility, of SEPET(TM), the Company's liver assist and
blood purification device in patients with liver failure. Arbios
recently received Institutional Review Board ("IRB") approval from
Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia. IRB approval is
necessary for the clinical trial to begin. In addition, Arbios has
set up a data safety monitoring board and is working towards
completion of the manufacturing of devices for the trial. Ms.
Factor stated, "With receipt of IRB approval, we will now train the
staff and initiate the trial at Albert Einstein Medical Center. As
previously announced, this will be a two-site, 15 patient study -
the second site being Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
For a patient to be enrolled in the trial they must be experiencing
an acute episode of a chronic liver condition." Shareholders were
also provided with an update on the Company's bioartificial liver
program. A meeting with select members of the Company's Scientific
Advisory Board was recently held to discuss the clinical trial
design for the bioartificial liver program. The Company plans to
reactivate its IND for a Phase III clinical trial and plans to meet
with the Food & Drug Administration to review the clinical
program for this device. During the past year, Arbios has
strengthened its management team and board of directors. The
Company has brought on expertise in the areas of manufacturing,
operations, marketing and sales. "This pool of talent will be
invaluable as the Company continues to progress its novel liver
assist devices closer to market introduction," said Ms. Factor.
"2004 was an important year for the Company in regards to building
its infrastructure and putting the necessary processes in place to
advance its product pipeline. I now look forward to moving the
Company into the next phase of its development," continued Ms.
Factor. The Company also announced that shareholders approved all
issues presented at the meeting, including the election of all of
the nine nominees as directors of the Company, an increase in the
number of authorized shares of common stock from 25,000,000 to
60,000,000, and the reincorporation of Arbios from Nevada to
Delaware (which will also result in the consolidation of its
operations with those of its operating subsidiary). The Company
intends to complete the reincorporation to Delaware, and the
consolidation of its operations with its subsidiary, within the
next few days. Arbios Systems, Inc. is a biomedical device company
that is engaged in the discovery, acquisition and development of
proprietary liver assist devices and new technologies useful in the
diagnosis and treatment of acute liver failure. Arbios' products in
development include SEPET(TM), a novel blood purification therapy
and HepatAssist-2(TM), a bioartificial liver combining liver cell
therapy and sorbent-based detoxification. 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 obtaining clinical site approvals, manufacturing
SEPET(TM) cartridges, enrolling patients, compliance with
regulatory requirement, the results of the clinical tests to be
conducted by the company, the need for subsequent substantial
additional financing to complete clinical development of its
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. 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. SEPET(TM) and
HepatAssist-2(TM) are trademarks of Arbios Technologies, Inc., the
subsidiary of Arbios Systems, Inc. DATASOURCE: Arbios Systems, Inc.
CONTACT: CONTACT AT ARBIOS: Amy Factor, Chief Executive Officer,
+1-973-377-7665, ; CONTACT AT RX COMMUNICATIONS GROUP: Paula
Schwartz (Investors), +1-917-322-2216, or Pat Garrison (Media),
+1-917-322-2567 Web site: http://www.arbios.com/
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