Goodman Acquires LightLab Imaging of the U.S.

Nagoya, Japan and Westford, MA, USA August 3, 2002 –

Goodman Co., Ltd, Japan’s leading company in the development, manufacture and distribution of vascular interventional devices, announced that it has completed the acquisition of LightLab Imaging, LLC.

Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, LightLab Imaging is focused on the development of OCT (optical coherence tomography), a new high-resolution high-speed imaging modality that uses advanced photonics for imaging and tissue characterization. When fully exploited, this technology has the potential to dramatically change the way physicians, researchers and scientists view and understand the human body to better diagnose and treat disease. Current imaging is accomplished using near-infrared wavelengths (1300 nm) within a 0.006” optical fiber and can achieve resolution on the order of approximately 4~20 microns.

The potential applications for this technology are numerous and include cardiovascular imaging, cancer detection, vulnerable plaque detection, as well as industrial applications. “Heart disease is the number one killer today and OCT has the capacity to transform cardiology practice to make earlier and more accurate diagnosis possible, improving the quality of life for an enormous number of patients.” said Akira Yamamoto, President of Goodman. “Likewise in oncology, the use of OCT for cancer detection will be important because it has the potential to more precisely identify and guide biopsy procedures, improve quality of and reduce the number of biopsies. New products based on OCT will have tremendous clinical and economic impact.”

LightLab Imaging will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Goodman and will be included in its consolidated accounts. Goodman, a publicly traded company (JASDAQ symbol: 7535), is a leader in the development, manufacture, sales and distribution of innovative medical products, pioneering the rapidly growing interventional cardiology market. Last month, Goodman announced its acquisition of Avantec Vascular Corp., a California-based company developing novel drug-eluting stents and other interventional device products.

Roberts Mitani, LLC of New York provided advisory services in connection with this acquisition.
Roberts Mitani (www.robertsmitani.com) and its affiliate companies, including Roberts Mitani Aqua Partners (www.rmaqua.com), provide financial advisory and private equity services to the life sciences industry and other sectors worldwide.

For more information, please contact:
Yoshimi Kimura
Managing Director, General Manager of Administrative Head Office
TEL: +81 52 774 4350