Company Overview

We are focused on applying our proprietary microsphere technology to medical applications using embolotherapy techniques. Our core technologies, consisting of patented bio-engineered polymers and manufacturing methods, are used to produce miniature spherical beads with uniquely beneficial properties for a variety of medical applications. Our principal focus is the treatment of symptomatic uterine fibroids using a procedure called uterine fibroid embolization, or UFE. Our products have already begun to gain acceptance in this emerging procedure, as well as in a number of other new and established medical treatments. Our strategy is twofold. First, we are seeking to grow the embolotherapy business worldwide, specifically the UFE procedure, by increasing awareness of the availability of this procedure. Second, we are seeking to maintain our current technology leadership by continuously introducing new products and product improvements, through both internally developed and externally acquired technologies, that improve and broaden the use of embolotherapy techniques.

Embolotherapy works by reducing blood flow to target areas of the body. The procedure is performed by injecting agents, usually particles, through a catheter and into the blood vessels that feed these target areas. By selectively blocking the target tissue's blood supply, the deprived tissue will either be destroyed or become devitalized, resulting in therapeutic benefit. Our initial products, Embosphere® Microspheres and EmboGold® Microspheres, have a number of beneficial properties that we believe make them well suited for these procedures. Because of their uniform, spherical shape and soft, slippery surface, our particles are easy to inject through small catheters, resulting in a more even distribution within the vessel network. We provide these products in a variety of precise sizes, so they can be selected to target occlusion of specific sized vessels to produce predictable results.

In November 2002, we received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, to market our Embosphere Microspheres for UFE. Significant third-party clinical data and publications support the safety and effectiveness of the UFE procedure. We believe that a growing part of the medical community perceives UFE to be a reasonable alternative for most patients who now undergo hysterectomy for treatment of their fibroids. For these reasons, we believe the number of UFE procedures will increase. We were the first company to gain regulatory clearance to market a product for UFE in the United States. We have continued to focus on seeking to grow our Embosphere Microsphere business through our ASK4UFE™ awareness and education program and through physician training. On a worldwide basis, we continue to develop our sales and marketing organization to maintain our leadership position.