Apollo Endosurgery(R) Announces First Incisionless Full-Thickness Resection of a Colonic Polyp

BARCELONA, SPAIN--(Marketwire - Aug 29, 2011) - Gastroenterologists José-Ramón Armengol Miró, MD, and Sergey V. Kanstevoy, MD, at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, Spain are the first in the world to successfully perform a full-thickness resection of a colonic polyp without the assistance of laparoscopic tools using the OverStitch™ Endoscopic Suturing System, a new class of flexible surgical instruments from Apollo Endosurgery®, Inc.

"Small colon polyps can be removed by a skilled endoscopist during a standard colonoscopy, however, invasive surgery has been required to adequately close the wound after large polyps are resected," said Prof. Armengol Miró, who is Chief of Digestive Endoscopy at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital. "Gastroenterologists have dreamed of performing full-thickness resections endoscopically, but we lacked proper endoscopic suturing tools until now. Apollo's OverStitch™ device represents a significant move forward in interventional endoscopy that should provide strong benefits for patients who can benefit from new and less invasive GI procedures."

During the procedure, Prof. Miró and Dr. Kanstevoy, who is Chief, Division of Gastroenterology and Medical Director of the Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, MD, removed the polyp and then used a colonoscope and the OverStitch™ system to deploy two continuous sutures to close the large three-by-six centimeter transmural defect. The repair was deemed airtight and allowed distension of the colon to its normal diameter after suturing was complete.

"Use of the OverStitch™ provided an alternative solution to a patient who was otherwise not a good surgical candidate," Dr. Kanstevoy said. "After the endoscopic procedure, the patient had no complaints of abdominal pain, had normal bowel movements and was discharged home after four days. In addition to enabling a more minimally invasive approach to surgery, the OverStitch™ system is also user-friendly. We believe that it will expand our ability to perform a range of endolumenal procedures requiring tissue approximation and suturing that we previously could not do."

To learn more about the OverStitch® Endoscopic Suturing System developed by Apollo Endosurgery®, visit www.apolloendo.com.

About Apollo Endosurgery®, Inc.

Apollo Endosurgery®, Inc. is dedicated to revolutionizing patient care through the development of flexible surgery, which is emerging from the convergence of laparoscopic surgery and therapeutic gastroenterology. Flexible surgery minimizes the trauma of surgical access by taking advantage of natural orifices to deliver surgical tools to targeted areas. All of Apollo's products are compatible with existing flexible endoscope platforms. Apollo Endosurgery® was cofounded with the Apollo Group, a unique collaboration of physicians from the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins University, Medical University of South Carolina, the University of Texas Medical Branch and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The company is funded by PTV Sciences, H.I.G. Ventures and has received a grant from the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas.