Bloomington, Ind. – Pending further review of the written opinion, Cook Incorporated says it will appeal a Federal court ruling today that Cook does not have the right to sell paclitaxel-coated coronary stents through third-party distributors such as Guidant Corporation under a licensing agreement it signed with a Canadian pharmaceutical company to coat its medical devices with paclitaxel.

“We strongly felt the language of our licensing agreement with Angiotech clearly granted us the option to distribute paclitaxel-coated devices through a third-party distributor, and we’re very disappointed the court’s opinion did not uphold this right,” said Phyllis McCullough, chairman of Cook Incorporated. “As we move into the appeals process, we remain confident that Cook continues to have options allowing us to bring the benefits of this restenosis-reducing technology to coronary artery disease patients around the world.”

Cook had asked the court for a summary judgment to dismiss a complaint from Boston Scientific Corporation claiming that under the co-exclusive licensing agreement Cook and Boston Scientific had signed with Angiotech Pharmaceuticals of Vancouver, B.C., Cook could not sell paclitaxel-coated medical products to whomever it wished.

In a ruling issued today, Judge Charles Kocoras of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied Cook’s summary motion and ruled that the language in the original licensing agreement with Angiotech did not allow Cook to establish a distributorship agreement with a third-party such as Guidant to distribute a paclitaxel-coated stent. Attorneys for Cook are awaiting the judge’s written opinion in preparation of an appeal and said they believe the appeals court will confirm the company’s right to establish a third-party distributorship for this leading-edge cardiovascular disease technology.

With international headquarters in Bloomington, Ind., privately held COOK® (www.cookgroup.com) is a leading designer, manufacturer and global distributor of minimally invasive medical device technology for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Since its founding in 1963, Cook has created innovative technologies for stents and stent-grafts, catheters, wire guides, introducer needles and sheaths, embolization coils, tissue-engineered medical biomaterials, vena cava filters, implanted cardiac lead extraction equipment and other minimally invasive medical devices.