Apollo Endosurgery Demonstrates Clinical Functionality of the Newly Launched OverStitch™ Endoscopic Suturing System in Bariatric Repairs and GI Therapy

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Apollo Endosurgery, Inc. announced preliminary results from their GEMINI suturing registry. These results confirm the procedure enabling capability of their newly-launched OverStitch™ Endoscopic Suturing System in a variety of clinical cases in the esophagus, stomach and colon.

A unique device that mimics the way physicians deploy sutures by hand, the OverStitch system enables full-thickness endoscopic suturing on a flexible platform -- delivering a surgical standard of care through the flexible endoscope.

While preliminary results will be presented at the upcoming SAGES and DDW meetings, the company is reporting the successful completion of more than 60 procedures in the esophagus, stomach and colon over the last several weeks. These cases include stoma reductions, GI bleeds, repairs of fistulas, ulcers and other small defects.

Early procedures have been performed in several thought leading institutions including: Legacy Health Systems, Portland, OR; Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA; Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD; Brigham and Women's, Boston, MA; California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA. Dr. Christopher Thompson of Brigham and Women's Hospital noted: "The versatility of OverStitch is incredible--- it has allowed me the increased flexibility in these recent procedures to obtain results that in many cases would have been impossible to achieve without laparoscopic or open surgical intervention."

Dennis McWilliams, CEO and President for Apollo, states, "The OverStitch Endoscopic Suturing System has enabled many procedures that previously may have required more invasive treatment.  The OverStitch system's utility and breadth of clinical applications in endoscopic tissue apposition are a result of the control and simplicity of use demonstrated during these early cases. The system shows great promise of improving the lives of thousands of patients suffering from disease and defects within the GI Tract."

Endoscopic suturing is a huge market opportunity with over 1.2 million basic procedures performed annually in the US, such as stoma and gastric reductions, fistula repair, stent fixation, and GI bleeds. Apollo is exceptionally well positioned to achieve substantial growth and advance the potential of flexible surgery -- while minimizing the trauma of endoscopic surgical access.

Apollo collects data on each case and maintains its ongoing Gemini Suturing Registry (Gastrointestinal Endoscopic MINimally Invasive) whenever an OverStitch system is employed in an endoscopic procedure.

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.

For more information, visit our website (www.apolloendo.com) or contact:

SOURCE Apollo Endosurgery, Inc.

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