SyntheMed, Inc. (SyntheMed), a company developing polymer products to treat adhesions that may form in a wide range of surgical procedures, has received Brazilian Ministry of Health approval for REPEL-CV for use in all patients who undergo open-heart surgery. The product is a adhesion barrier film intended to reduce adhesions following cardiac surgery. The company will market the product in Brazil through Labcor Laboratorios Ltda., a supplier of prosthetic heart valves in Brazil. Gustavo Junqueira, Labcor's VP International Markets, stated: "We view REPEL-CV as a unique product opportunity and are enthused about the potential benefits it offers for the 48,000 patients per year who have open-heart surgery in our country."
REPEL-CV has CE Mark approval for use in all cardiac surgery patients and is marketed in the European Union and certain other international countries through a network of independent distributors. It is FDA approved for use in pediatric cardiac surgery patients and is marketed in the United States through a direct sales force.