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Memorial Hermann Among First to Stock Xigris

Revolutionary Drug Saves One in Five Who May Otherwise Die

Houston, Texas, September 19, 2002 -- What causes more deaths than breast, colorectal, pancreatic and prostate cancer combined? Severe sepsis is the number one cause of death in non-coronary intensive care units. Severe sepsis - the body's out-of-control response to an infection that can rapidly lead to organ failure and death - can strike anyone, at any age, at any time. Each year, severe sepsis strikes an estimated 750,000 people in the United States, 215,000 of whom die.

Memorial Hermann Hospital was among the first to administer a new lifesaving drug to combat severe sepsis. One of the most complex biotech products in history, Xigris was developed by Eli Lilly and Company. Dr. Robert Lodato, a critical care physician at Memorial Hermann Hospital, was the principal investigator for Memorial Hermann in a multi-center clinical trial. Researchers across the country studied 1,690 sepsis patients, giving half of them the intravenous drug and half a placebo.

"Xigris is a biologically engineered form of a natural blood product - activated Protein C - that controls the body's otherwise harmful responses to severe infection, curbing widespread inflammation and microscopic blood clotting," says Dr. Lodato. The Food and Drug Administration approved Xigris in November 2001 for adults with severe sepsis who face a high risk of death. Patients fall under this category, for example, when sepsis causes two or more organs to malfunction. The first treatment to directly attack the way sepsis damages organs (by causing widespread inflammation and microscopic blood clotting) and the only such treatment of its kind shown to reduce mortality, Xigris is anticipated to save tens of thousands of lives a year from severe sepsis, cutting deaths by as much as 20 percent. According to Dr. Lodato, this is a dramatic milestone considering that up until now nearly half of all patients who came down with severe sepsis have had only a "coin's toss" chance of survival that more often resulted in death.

"We view this as a significant breakthrough after years of failed attempts with other investigational approaches," says Dr. Lodato. "To date, nothing has succeeded like activated Protein C. In the past, treatment for severe sepsis consisted of eradicating the infection with antibiotics and perhaps surgery, as well as supportive care, such as mechanical ventilation and kidney dialysis, but none of these supportive measures specifically treats severe sepsis. Xigris, in essence, replenishes and enhances the body's own activated Protein C, reversing its suppression brought on by severe sepsis."

Memorial Hermann, a not-for-profit health care system, provides quality, comprehensive programs and services for a person's whole life. Through its 11 hospitals located in the Texas Medical Center and the greater Houston area, Memorial Hermann offers the convenience of health care in neighborhoods where people live and work, as well as easy access to the resources and technology of a university-affiliated teaching hospital. Memorial Hermann takes a holistic approach to health care, offering programs and services that address the physical, social, psychological and spiritual aspects of wellbeing.

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