ST. PAUL, Minn. and
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.,
May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
EnteroMedics Inc. (NASDAQ:ETRM), the developer of medical devices
to treat obesity, metabolic diseases and other gastrointestinal
disorders, and AMITA Health, a health system focused on delivering
the most efficient, highest quality, faith-based care, today
announced that AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Bolingbrook in
Bolingbrook, Illinois successfully
completed its first implant of the Company's vBloc®
Neurometabolic Therapy. The procedure was performed approximately
three months ago by Vafa Shayani,
M.D., a bariatric surgeon at the AMITA Health Bariatric &
Weight Loss Center, and the patient already has lost about 30
pounds.
"vBloc Therapy is an anatomy-preserving and minimally invasive
option where we do not cut or alter any part of the stomach or
digestive tract," said Dr. Shayani. "For many patients, there are
few effective options outside of drastic anatomy-altering surgeries
to help them successfully manage their weight and commonly
associated conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and
high cholesterol. AMITA Health is excited to now offer this
revolutionary weight-loss procedure to our patients."
The vBloc System works to control sensations of hunger
using a pacemaker-like device that is implanted under the skin
during a safe, minimally invasive procedure that does not alter or
remove any patient anatomy. The device can be adjusted to optimize
patients' therapy needs and works to give the patient a sensation
of fullness, empowering them to eat less, control their appetite,
and lose weight. Studies have shown that vBloc Therapy
produces meaningful weight loss in patients as well as meaningful
improvements in related comorbidity factors, such as hemoglobin A1c
(HbA1c), without the major lifestyle implications of traditional
weight-loss surgeries.
"With the obesity rate over 30 percent in the state of
Illinois, we are proud to work
with AMITA Health to make vBloc accessible for those struggling
with weight loss, and we are pleased to learn Dr. Shayani's patient
achieved excess weight loss of about 32 percent and total body
weight loss of 9 percent after approximately three months," said
Dan Gladney,
EnteroMedics President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
of the Board. "As we begin to see more commercial vBloc procedures
performed, we continue to build on the existing body of evidence
demonstrating that vBloc is a safe and effective weight-loss option
for obese patients."
"Since starting vBloc Therapy, I've lost close to 30 pounds and
feel great," said Mark Kaschube, a
dentist and patient of Dr. Shayani who received vBloc Therapy
nearly three months ago. "I struggled for three-to-four years to
control feelings of constant hunger, and I had no success. I used
to be a very active person, but because of my weight, I had to give
up things such as skiing with my wife and kids. I'm looking forward
to losing additional weight so I can return to my active
lifestyle."
vBloc Therapy is approved for use in helping with weight loss in
people aged 18 years and older who are obese, with a BMI of 40 to
45 kg/m2, or a BMI of 35 to 39.9 kg/m2 with a
related health condition such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood
pressure, high cholesterol levels or obstructive sleep apnea who
have had a poor response to trying to lose weight under supervision
in the last 5 years.
About AMITA Health Bariatric & Weight Loss Center
The AMITA Health Bariatric & Weight Loss Center provides
personalized solutions to promote sustained weight loss. The center
is a leader in a variety of minimally invasive surgical solutions
supported by the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric
Surgery. The center has three bariatric surgery facilities
accredited by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and
Quality Improvement Program: AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center
Bolingbrook, AMITA Health Alexian Brothers Medical Center Elk Grove
Village and AMITA Health St. Alexius Medical Center Hoffman
Estates. The center's bariatric surgeons collectively have
performed more than 10,000 procedures, and the center has the
highest bariatric surgical volume in Illinois. The center also offers comprehensive
medical weight-loss solutions, with a supportive team of medical
providers, dietitians, exercise specialists, social workers and
behavioral counselors who work together to provide evidence-based
weight-management care for patients. For more information about the
center and its medical and surgical options for long-term weight
management, visit www.AMITAhealth.org/weightloss or call
855.839.2589.
About AMITA Health
AMITA Health (www.AMITAhealth.org) is a joint operating company
formed by Adventist Midwest Health, part of the Adventist Health
System in Altamonte Springs,
Florida, and Alexian Brothers Health System, a subsidiary of
St. Louis-based Ascension.
Headquartered in Arlington Heights,
Illinois, AMITA Health is the third-largest health system in
the state, with more than 12,000 associates committed to delivering
the most efficient, highest quality, faith-based care at nine acute
and specialty care hospitals and at more than 80 ambulatory/clinic
locations. AMITA Health has an extensive provider network of more
than 3,000 hospital-affiliated physicians, and the AMITA Health
Medical Group consists of over 500 multi-specialty employed
physicians and associate practitioners, ranking it among the
largest regional medical groups. AMITA Health's mission is to
extend the healing ministry of Jesus by respecting the faith
traditions of the many individuals and families it serves across
suburban Chicago.
About EnteroMedics Inc.
EnteroMedics is a medical device company focused on the
development and commercialization of technology to treat obesity
and metabolic diseases. vBloc® Neurometabolic Therapy,
delivered by an FDA-approved pacemaker-like device called the
vBloc® System, is designed to help patients feel full
and eat less by intermittently blocking hunger signals on the vagus
nerve. EnteroMedics recently acquired the Gastric Vest System™
through its acquisition of BarioSurg, Inc. The Gastric Vest is
an investigational, minimally invasive, laparoscopically implanted
medical device being studied for weight loss in morbidly obese
patients. The device wraps around the stomach, emulating the effect
of conventional weight-loss surgery, and enables gastric volume
reduction without permanently changing patient anatomy.
Information about the vBloc® System and
vBloc® Neurometabolic Therapy
You should not have an implanted vBloc® System
if you have cirrhosis of the liver, high blood pressure in the
veins of the liver, enlarged veins in your esophagus or a
significant hiatal hernia of the stomach; if you need magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI); if you have a permanently implanted,
electrical medical device; or if you need a diathermy procedure
using heat. The most common related adverse events that were
experienced during clinical study of the vBloc System included
pain, heartburn, nausea, difficulty swallowing, belching, wound
redness or irritation, and constipation.
Talk with your doctor about the full risks and benefits of vBloc
Therapy and vBloc System. For additional prescribing information,
please visit www.enteromedics.com.
If you are interested in learning more about vBloc
Neurometabolic Therapy, please visit www.vbloc.com or call
1-800-MY-VBLOC.
Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified
by the use of words such as "expect," "plan," "anticipate,"
"could," "may," "intend," "will," "continue," "future," other words
of similar meaning and the use of future dates. These
forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of
our management and involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include,
among others: our limited history of operations; our losses
since inception and for the foreseeable future; our limited
commercial sales experience with our vBloc® System for
the treatment of obesity in the United
States or in any foreign market other than Australia and the European Community; the
competitive industry in which we operate; our ability to maintain
compliance with the Nasdaq continued listing requirements; our
ability to commercialize our vBloc® System; our
dependence on third parties to initiate and perform our clinical
trials; the need to obtain regulatory approval for any
modifications to our vBloc® System; physician adoption
of our vBloc® System and vBloc®
Neurometabolic Therapy; our ability to obtain third party coding,
coverage or payment levels; ongoing regulatory compliance; our
dependence on third party manufacturers and suppliers; the
successful development of our sales and marketing capabilities; our
ability to raise additional capital when needed; international
commercialization and operation; our ability to attract and retain
management and other personnel and to manage our growth
effectively; potential product liability claims; the cost and
management time of operating a public company; potential healthcare
fraud and abuse claims; healthcare legislative reform; and our
ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for
our technology and products. These and additional risks and
uncertainties are described more fully in the Company's filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly those
factors identified as "risk factors" in the annual report on Form
10-K filed March 8, 2017 and
quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed May 15,
2017. We are providing this information as of the date of
this press release and do not undertake any obligation to update
any forward-looking statements contained in this document as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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SOURCE EnteroMedics Inc.