Olympus and VisEn Announce Distribution Agreement

Olympus Corp. (Tokyo Japan) and VisEn Medical, Inc. (Woburn, MA, USA) have signed an exclusive Japanese distribution agreement covering VisEn's fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) imaging systems and a range of in-vivo near infrared fluorescence probes.

Olympus will commence sales of the products from September 1, 2006. The FMT systems and in vivo near infrared fluorescence probes were developed to enable current leading in vivo performance in fluorescence molecular imaging. By combining VisEn's products with the Olympus OV100 and IV100 molecular imaging systems, it will be possible to generate an extraordinary range of molecular imaging data in vivo, from the cellular and tissue levels to the quantification of molecular activities, real-time within the whole body. These systems will accelerate progress in disease research and in drug development by considerably expanding molecular imaging applications and enriching data quality in diseases including cancer, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and bone disease.

Known molecular pathways in the body drive all life phenomena in human
beings, including disease onset, progression, and recovery. In vivo molecular
imaging is now widely used in advanced life science research to observe and analyze the in vivo dynamics of cells, proteins, and molecules. By evaluating these dynamics, it is possible to detect, determine, and characterize diseases earlier, and to gain a better understanding and characterization of the processes that cause such diseases, and the effectiveness of related treatments.

VisEn's fluorescence probes are designed to target and read-out various disease-related molecular activities in vivo, including protease activity, angiogenesis, vascular permeability, and bone turnover. VisEn's FMT system provides true quantification of fluorescence within the living animal. Taken together, they can be utilized to observe and quantify a range of biologic phenomena in vivo, including molecular activities in disease states such as cancer, inflammation, cardiovascular and bone disease.

The molecular imaging systems developed and sold by Olympus are the OV100 in vivo imaging system, which can be used for a wide range of observations, from full views of small animals to the cellular level, and the IV100 in vivo laser scanning microscope, which supports direct in vivo observation of small laboratory animals. The conclusion of an exclusive Japanese distribution agreement with VisEn will allow Olympus to combine its imaging systems with VisEn's products, thereby enabling Olympus to supply its customer with current leading fluorescence technologies that can be used for in vivo observations and data generation from cells and tissues throughout the whole body.



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