EPIX REPORTS EUROPEAN APPROVAL OF VASOVIST

EPIX Pharmaceuticals announced that its marketing partner, Schering AG, has received the approval of Vasovist (MS-325, gadofosveset trisodium) in all 25 member states of the European Union.

Vasovist, a blood pool contrast agent, is the company's lead product and the first application of its proprietary Target Visualization Technology. Specifically, Vasovist is approved for visualization of abdominal or limb vessels in patients with known or suspected vascular disease using magnetic resonance angiography (MRA).

In the EU alone, more than two million people are hospitalized with vascular disease and an estimated four million patients per year undergo invasive, catheter-based X-ray angiography (XRA). MRA with Vasovist may represent an alternative to XRA as a minimally invasive method. The product uniquely demonstrates prolonged blood residence time, which may allow radiologists to visualize the vasculature by MRA with a single Vasovist injection. Vasovist-enhanced MRA, therefore, may provide the clinician with a robust and flexible tool to perform a comprehensive diagnostic work-up as compared to currently available angiographic techniques.