Exhibit 99.7
February 19, 2002
Trading Symbol: DBSH
AGREEMENT ON MEDICAL DEVICE COATINGS
President and Chief Executive Officer Xxxx Xxxxxxx reports that DBS Holdings
Inc. (DBSH:OTCBB) has signed term sheets for two field-of-use licenses granting
DBS worldwide rights to two biocompatible coating technologies developed at the
University of British Columbia.
The terms define the intent of the parties and will serve as a foundation for
definitive License Agreements, relating to patents and their continuances and to
the know-how, improvements, variations and enhancements made with respect to the
technologies. In addition to exclusive rights of use, DBS will have the right to
sublicense the technology to third parties. The two distinct technologies are:
1) Thin film hydroxyapatite coating for use with medical devices 2)
Hydroxyapatite cement for drug delivery applications.
These leading-edge technologies will be used by the company to produce coating
compounds for medical devices and scaffolding applications, including stents.
The term sheets specify that the University will receive, upon execution of
License Agreements, restricted common shares of DBS Holdings, royalties on gross
revenue (for each license), royalties on sublicense sales (for each license),
annual maintenance fees, structured minimum annual royalties, reimbursed patent
costs, and milestone payments based on clinical trial progress and regulatory
approvals.
Xx. Xxxxx Xxxxxxx, Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of DBS states, "We
are excited over the prospects of these technologies, their relevance to the
direction of our company and their compatibility with our product development
program. The thin hydroxyapatite coating technology is intended to provide a
barrier to reduce heavy metal ions associated with inflammatory responses that
lead to restenosis and thrombosis." (Restenosis is a recurrence of arterial
blockage after angioplasty procedures.) "Our intention is to utilize the porous
cement on our MIVI stent system providing a vehicle for drug loading and
elution. This dovetails with our concurrent program to apply for CE Mark
approval and subsequent commercialization of our bare stent technology. We are
fortunate to have forged a strong liaison with an internationally recognized
institution such as the University of British Columbia."
Xx. Xxxxxxx adds, "Interventional cardiologists expect the medical device
industry to provide a solution for restenosis. Our mission is to develop a
therapeutic delivery system that effectively minimizes this condition. We are
undertaking these agreements in order to enhance the corporate foundation and
infrastructure established since 1999. After successful animal trials at the
MAYO Clinic on our bare stent, we identified opportunities in the coated stent
and drug delivery markets. Coated and drug-eluting stents will sell at
significant premiums compared with bare stent delivery systems. We feel these
coatings could be breakthrough technologies and their acquisition would allow us
to participate in, what industry analysts project to be, a $6 billion market by
2005."
DBS Holdings Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a bio-medical development
company that intends to develop and manufacture a laser cut coronary stent
designed and engineered as a potential platform for stent-based drug delivery
systems.
