EXHIBIT 99.1
AUGUST 28, 2000
MEDAMICUS ANNOUNCES SAFETY NEEDLE LICENSING AGREEMENT
MINNEAPOLIS--MedAmicus, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDM) announced the signing of an
agreement with Med-Design Corporation (Nasdaq: MEDC) for the right to
manufacture and distribute Med-Design's center-line retractable Safety Seldinger
Introducer Needle. MedAmicus will market the Safety Seldinger Needle initially
to its customer base in the venous access market including pacing, port and
dialysis applications, as it explores with Med-Design channels of distribution
into other potential markets.
"We are very enthusiastic about the opportunity to offer to our
customers this advanced device designed to improve safety for all medical
personnel," said Mark Kraus, vice president and general manager of the Company's
Percutaneous Delivery Solutions division. "There are estimated to be over
1,000,000 accidental needle sticks in the U.S. each year, and with the risk of
acquiring a blood borne disease such as the HIV virus, these needle sticks have
received significantly greater attention. In the last several years the Federal
Occupational Safety and Health Agency has become more adamant in recommending
the use of safety needles for medical personnel and just recently Massachusetts
became the sixteenth state to pass safety needle legislation," Kraus added.
"Med-Design's product retracts into a protective sheath while still in
the patient eliminating the possibility of a needle stick after coming in
contact with a patient's blood,"Kraus continued. "It is an elegant design and
one that we can manufacture and bring tomarket at an attractive cost. Our goal
is to make this product accessible for all medical personnel involved in our
markets through our OEM relationships with leading medical device companies."
"We continue to explore with Med-Design other opportunities for our
companies to work together. MedAmicus is committed to bring to our markets
leading edge technology in access devices and this relationship with Med-Design
offers a number of interesting opportunities for future collaboration," Kraus
concluded.
MedAmicus, Inc., based in Plymouth, Minnesota, is a medical products
company engaged in the design, development, manufacture and marketing of medical
products for the gynecology, urology and cardiology markets. Its Fiber Optic
business markets LuMax(TM) fiber optic monitors and catheters for the diagnosis
of incontinence and prostate conditions through a direct sales force. Its
Percutaneous Delivery Solutions business markets venous vessel introducers for
use in the implantation of pacemakers, defibrillators, infusion ports and
dialysis catheters through value-added relationships with Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:
MDT) and other medical device companies. MedAmicus is traded on the Nasdaq Stock
Market under the symbol MEDM.
Med-Design Corporation, based in Ventura California, has developed over
22 safety needle products that are designed to enable medical workers to
efficiently perform a wide range of medical procedures at greatly reduced risk
of exposure to accidental needle sticks. Its products are user-friendly,
cost-effective and meet stringent user requirements while minimizing
manufacturing cost. The Company's safety needle products cover applications
within the important risk areas of blood collection, infusion therapy, venous
and arterial insertion, and injection. Med-Design Corporation is traded on the
Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol MEDC.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties. Certain important factors could cause MedAmicus' actual
results to differ materially from those anticipated by some statements made
herein. Among the factors that could cause results to differ materially are
those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10K and other recent filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as, and without limitation:
inability to manufacture safety needle at a competitive cost; inability to
generate adequate sales of the safety needle; attracting and retaining key
personnel; lack of market acceptance of the Company's products; introduction of
competitive products; the availability of third party reimbursement; changes in
government regulations; protecting the Company's intellectual property rights;
exposure to product liability claims, and performance of the Company's sales
representatives.
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