EVICEL™ Fibrin Sealant (Human) Approved For General Hemostasis In Surgery

Somerville, NJ . – ETHICON, INC. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted an expanded indication for EVICEL™ Fibrin Sealant (Human). The product is the first fibrin sealant to be indicated as an adjunct to hemostasis for use in patients undergoing surgery, when control of bleeding by standard surgical techniques is ineffective or impractical.

EVICEL™ is the only all-human plasma-derived fibrin sealant commercially available in the U.S. It does not contain aprotinin, which has been associated with adverse health effects. EVICEL™ is easy to use and readily available for time-sensitive needs in the operating room. The product is sold as a frozen liquid and requires less than one minute preparation time after thawing.

“In surgery, the success of the procedure can sometimes depend upon the surgeon’s ability to control blood loss quickly and effectively,” said R. Clement Darling III, M.D., head of the Division of Vascular Surgery at Albany Medical Center. “EVICEL™ has become an important element of hemostasis in many liver and vascular procedures. The expansion of its indication to general surgery will bring the benefits of this product to more surgeons and their patients,” added Dr. Darling.

EVICEL™ is contraindicated in individuals known to have anaphylactic or severe systemic reaction to human blood products. As with all plasma-derived products, the risk of transmitting infectious agents cannot be completely eliminated. EVICEL™ should not be injected directly into the circulatory system or used for the treatment of severe or brisk arterial bleeding. Anaphylactic reactions may occur. No adverse events of this type were reported during the conduction of the clinical trials.

EVICEL™ was developed by ETHICON, INC. in collaboration with OMRIX Biopharmaceuticals.

About ETHICON, INC.

ETHICON, INC., a Johnson & Johnson company, is a global medical device company that develops and markets surgical products for use in general surgery, wound management and women’s health & urology. Johnson & Johnson Wound Management, a division of ETHICON, INC., offers a complete portfolio of topical and advanced hemostatic products including SURGICEL(R) Absorbable Hemostats, SURGIFOAM* Absorbable Gelatin Sponge, EVICEL™ Fibrin Sealant (Human), and SURGIFLO* Hemostatic Matrix with FlexTip. For more information about ETHICON, INC., please visit www.ethicon.com.