Global Leader in Assisted Reproductive Technology Introduces
Breakthrough Products for Oocyte Cryopreservation

Prague, Czech Republic, June 19, 2006 - Cook Women's Health, a division of Cook, the world's largest private medical device manufacturer, and a global leader in assisted reproductive technology (ART), today introduced its new IVF oocyte cryopreservation media developed to improve pregnancy rates from oocyte freezing. The new technology, currently only available outside the United States, provides an improved alternative to embryo cryopreservation for patients and fertility specialists.

During the announcement, Christina Anné, Cook's Global Women's Health SBU leader, described the impact of the new media, "Apart from the obvious applications directly in IVF for storing the egg at the unfertilized stage, Cook's new cryopreservation media also offers improved results for anonymous oocyte donation programmes, as well as providing a potential solution for the complications originating from the long-term storage of embryos, issues regarding ownership or when embryo transfers might be too dangerous to the mother."

Working in collaboration with Dr Andrea Borini from Tecnobios Procreazione in Bologna, Italy, Cook is bringing to market a simple system for the successful cryopreservation and thawing of human mature oocytes. Dr Borini's group is world-renowned for the cryopreservation of human oocytes and has published the results of a number of clinical trials on cryopreservation in peer reviewed journals.

In his most recent research using Cook's commercially manufactured oocyte freezing and thawing media, Dr Borini reports pregnancy rates from frozen/thawed oocytes that are comparable to that of frozen/thawed embryos. The improvement comes from updated freezing and thawing protocols used in conjunction with the new Cook cryopreservation media. The protocols used in the three-part freezing and four-part thawing process have been optimised to provide the oocyte with a safe and stress free environment. As a result, the protocols help to ensure improved survival from the physical trauma of freezing and thawing leading to improved fertilization, division and implantation of the resulting embryos.

The world introduction of the new media will be the focus of a Cook VISTA meeting conducted in conjunction with the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, June 19-21, 2006. This meeting will also feature speakers on topics such as In Vitro maturation of immature oocytes, improved media systems for extended embryo culture and vitrification or fast oocyte/embryo freezing systems. Cook is actively researching these and other assisted reproduction technologies.

Additional Information

• Cryopreservation of human oocytes (or eggs), allows the oocytes to be stored indefinitely until they are thawed and fertilized. The technology is especially important for women who face the possibility of their eggs being destroyed from cancer treatments or women with other fertility problems.
• Due to current Italian laws on assisted reproduction, the freezing of embryos is prohibited. This has forced Italian reproductive specialists and embryologists to freeze at the unfertilized oocyte stage. Historically it has proved very difficult to successfully freeze, thaw and subsequently fertilize and transfer these oocytes. This is due primarily to the high surface area to volume ratio in the oocyte, resulting in the production of much more potentially damaging ice crystals during egg freezing compared to that of embryo freezing.
• While the Italian situation is the extreme, other European countries also face legal issues that oocyte cryopreservation could solve. Germany recently enacted a law to prevent freezing of divided embryos, while allowing storage of fertilized, one-cell eggs. Regulations in the United Kingdom set a maximum storage period of five years for embryos while the storage period for oocytes is extended to 10 years.

About Cook
With international headquarters in Bloomington, Indiana, COOK® (www.cookmedical.com), the world's largest privately held medical device manufacturer, is a leading designer, manufacturer and global distributor of minimally invasive medical device technology for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Since its founding in 1963, Cook has created innovative technologies for radiology, cardiology, urology, critical care medicine, general surgery, assisted reproduction, gynecology and obstetrics, endovascular medicine, gastroenterology and endoscopy.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Gail McDaniel
Cook Urological and Women's Health
812-369-9727
gail.mcdaniel@cookmedical.com

Jay O'Connor
Fuse PR
020 8752 3201
jay@gfusepr.com

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