WINNIPEG, Manitoba - (February 27, 2004). Medicure
Inc. (TSX:MPH; Amex: MCU), a cardiovascular drug discovery and development
company, is pleased to announce the issuance of the Company's ninth
new patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The issued patent,
number 6,667,315, covers composition of matter claims and compound
claims in a series of novel drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular
and related diseases.
This new U.S, patent, entitled Cardioprotective Phosphonates and
Malonates, relates to novel molecules for the treatment of various
cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension, congestive heart
failure and a variety of conditions arising from thrombotic and
prothrombotic states, such as deep vein thrombosis, myocardial infarction
and stroke.
"This new patent clearly demonstrates the novelty and productivity
of Medicure's medical chemistry program in developing novel drugs
and expanding upon our strong library of proprietary drug candidates,"
said Albert D. Friesen, PhD, Medicure's President and CEO. "This
addition to our patent portfolio represents another significant
building block for our Company, as we continue to develop our product
pipeline by creating new therapeutics based on MC-1's scaffold,
thus creating further value for our shareholders."
The Company's Drug Discovery Program is focused on advancing novel
therapeutics to address unmet cardiovascular needs. Medicure has
established capabilities in the areas of medicinal chemistry, cardiovascular
physiology and drug screening. The objective is to create new therapeutics
based on MC-1's natural product scaffold whose structural architecture,
or scaffold, has been established as safe and active, and provides
a powerful guiding principle for development of novel drugs.
About Medicure Inc.
Medicure Inc. is a cardiovascular drug discovery and development
Company focused on developing effective therapeutics for unmet needs
in the field of cardiovascular medicine. The Company's lead drug,
MC-1, is focused on the prevention and treatment of ischemia, ischemic
reperfusion injury, and stroke. The cardiovascular and stroke market
is the largest pharmaceutical sector with annual global sales of
over US $70 billion.
The Company's second product candidate, MC-4232, is being targeted
for the treatment of hypertension, a common disorder in which blood
pressure remains abnormally high. Approximately 73% of the more
than 50 million adult Americans who have hypertension, are not adequately
treated.
Medicure also has a medicinal chemistry based Drug Discovery program
focused on discovery and advancement of novel small molecule, anti-ischemics
and anti-thrombotics towards human clinical studies.
This news release
contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, which may
cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made,
and accordingly may be deemed to be forward-looking statements made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements are
made as of the date hereof, and the Company disclaims any intention
and has no obligation or responsibility to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events, or otherwise.
For more information, please contact:
Derek Reimer
Chief Financial Officer
Don Bain
Director of Investor & Public Relations
