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Cambridge Heart Expands Co-Marketing Agreement With St. Jude Medical

Posted on: Monday, 18 June 2007, 18:10 CDT

Cambridge Heart, Inc. (OTCBB: CAMH), today announced it has amended its sales and marketing agreement with St. Jude Medical (NYSE: SJM). St. Jude Medical's sales force now will be able to market Cambridge Heart's HearTwave® II Microvolt Alternans test to North American primary care and internal medicine physicians. In addition, Cambridge Heart's sales force now will have the ability to support St. Jude Medical's field sales force in all physician markets in North America. Under the original agreement, signed March 21, 2007, the cardiology and electrophysiology markets were to be targeted by St. Jude Medical's field force, and Cambridge Heart's representatives addressed the internal medicine and primary care markets.

"The amendment reflects the growing synergistic partnership between our two field sales forces and highlights the benefits of employing a strategic joint approach. Many patients at high risk for sudden cardiac death are in the care of internal medicine and primary care physicians, and the importance of addressing this population has been recognized increasingly by the CRM industry," stated Robert P. Khederian, Chairman and Interim CEO of Cambridge Heart. "Expanding the collaborative partnership provides us with an opportunity to penetrate the internal medicine and primary care markets more efficiently. Our two sales forces have worked very well together over the last few months, and by jointly addressing all markets, we can increase awareness for sudden cardiac death and enhance the adoption of MTWA as an effective tool for identifying high-risk patients."

There are no other changes to the agreement, and the Company's guidance for 2007 remains $14-$16 million in revenue. Apart from expanding the markets in which Cambridge Heart and St. Jude Medical may work together, the amended agreement retains substantially the same material terms as the original March 21, 2007, agreement, as outlined in the Form 8-K Cambridge Heart filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 27, 2007.

About the Non-invasive HearTwave® II Microvolt T-Wave Alternans Test

Cambridge Heart's Microvolt T-Wave Alternans Test measures a specific and extremely subtle pattern of beat-to-beat fluctuations in a person's electrocardiogram. This pattern of fluctuations is called T-wave Alternans. These tiny variations in the electrocardiogram, measured at one millionth of a volt accuracy, are measured most commonly during a sub-maximal exercise stress test in the physician's office or hospital outpatient setting. Extensive clinical research has shown patients with a positive or non-negative microvolt T-wave Alternans test are at increased risk for sudden cardiac death, while those who test negative are at reduced risk.

Sudden Cardiac Death

According to the American Heart Association, sudden cardiac death (SCD), or cardiac arrest, is the sudden, abrupt loss of heart function in a person who may or may not have diagnosed heart disease. The time and mode of death are unexpected. It occurs instantly and shortly after symptoms appear.

The most common reason for patients to die suddenly is cardiovascular disease, in particular, coronary heart disease. Approximately half of all deaths from coronary heart disease are sudden and unexpected, regardless of the underlying disease. Thus, half of all deaths due to atherosclerosis (arteries lined with fatty deposits) are sudden. Additionally, half of deaths due to cardiovascular disease are due to degeneration of the heart muscle or to cardiac enlargement in patients with high blood pressure. SCD is a major health problem, causing about 330,000 deaths each year among U.S. adults before reaching a hospital or emergency room.

The term "massive heart attack" is often mistakenly used in the media to describe sudden death. The term "heart attack" or myocardial infarction refers to the death of heart muscle tissue due to the loss of blood supply, not necessarily resulting in the death of the heart attack victim. While a heart attack may cause cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death, the terms are not synonymous.

About Cambridge Heart, Inc.

Cambridge Heart (www.cambridgeheart.com) is engaged in the development and commercialization of products for the non-invasive diagnosis of cardiac disease, particularly the identification of those at risk of sudden cardiac arrest. The Company's products incorporate its proprietary Microvolt T-Wave Alternans measurement technologies, coupled with its patented Spectral Analytic Method and ultra-sensitive disposable electrode sensors. Only Spectral Analytic Method MTWA tests are reimbursed by Medicare under its National Coverage Policy that covers patients with a wide variety of cardiac symptoms. Other major insurers in the U.S. also have coverage policies for the test. The T-Wave Alternans test is included in the Guideline for Management of Patients with Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death jointly developed by the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the American Heart Association (AHA), and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The Company, founded in 1990, is based in Bedford, Massachusetts, and is traded on the OTCBB under the symbol CAMH.

Statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, we use words such as "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "estimates", "could", and similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause or contribute to such differences include customer delays in making final buying decisions, decreased demand for our products, failure to obtain funding necessary to develop or enhance our technology, adverse results in future clinical studies of our technology, failure to obtain or maintain patent protection for our technology, failure to obtain or maintain adequate levels of third-party reimbursement for use of our products and other factors identified in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K under "Factors Which May Affect Future Results", which is on file with the SEC and available at www.EDGAR.com. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent our estimates only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our estimates as of any subsequent date. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so except as may be legally necessary, even if our estimates should change.

Source: Business Wire

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