Covalon receives Health Canada approval for its antimicrobial coating on Foley catheters

January 10, 2006

Mississauga, Ontario – January 10, 2006: Covalon (TSX Venture: COV) is extremely pleased to announce that the Company has received a Health Canada approval (license) for its Silver ion antimicrobial coating on Foley catheters.

The Covalon coating is a lubricious (slippery when wet), silver ion antimicrobial coating that is chemically bonded to the surface of medical devices. The coating is designed to reduce the risk of hospital acquired infections (HAI) by providing antimicrobial silver ions.

According to “Theta reports on the catheter market” approximately 100 million Foley catheters are sold world wide. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by Foley catheters are among the most prevalent type of hospital acquired infections as noted below:
• UTIs account for 40% of HAIs
• Foley catheter use causes 80-90% of UTIs
• 15-50% of hospitalized patients with a urinary catheter experience UTI from urinary catheterization
• Infection risk increases by 5% each day of catheterization
• Bacteremia (bacteria in the blood) occurs in up to 4% of cases
• 1-3.8 extra hospital days are due to UTI and US$680-$3,800 per patient/episode of UTI added to the healthcare system
• UTIs increase the costs associated with treatment by more than US$1.8 billion per year in the USA

“Covalon is looking forward to introduction of the product and generating sales in the Canadian market, said Dr. Frank DiCosmo, President and CEO of Covalon. Dr. DiCosmo added, “We are working on applying the coating to other devices such as IV lines, Central Venous lines and Dialysis catheters. Getting to market with the Foley catheter will assist in achieving market-acceptance on these devices.”

Covalon Technologies Ltd. is a company with advanced medical products that has developed and patented advanced therapeutic biomaterials for wound care and surgical applications and coatings.  Polymer chemistry and surface coating technology have been combined to create a range of time-release drug delivery platforms that are applied to many medical devices to treat many critical conditions. A variety of applications for these technologies have been identified and specific products have been developed.

For further information please contact: William Jackson, CFO & COO
Covalon Technologies Ltd.
T: (905) 568-8400
F: (905) 568-5200
www.covalon.com

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