COS.L Regulatory News (COS)

Healthcare Investment Opportunities Plc

(the "Company")

Announcement by Cardium Therapeutics

("Cardium")

Healthcare Investment Opportunities plc (AIM: HIO), an investment company focusing on the healthcare sector notes a recent announcement made by Cardium Therapeutics (NYSE MKT: CXM).

On 10 December 2013, the Company announced the Reverse Takeover of Collbio Limited ("Collbio"), which is expected to become unconditional on 2 January 2014. Collbio manufactures medical grade collagen components for use in regenerative medicine, medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics. Its capabilities include the development and contract manufacture of collagen-based medical devices and the provision of soluble collagen products. Collbio has a contract with Cardium for the manufacture and supply of Excellagen, a wound care product indicated for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.

Full announcement made by Cardium on 4 December 2013:

"Cardium Therapeutics (NYSE MKT: CXM) announces that Cardium's Excellagen®, a wound care product indicated for the treatment of hard to heal wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers and pressure ulcers as well as other dermal wounds, has been assigned a new and unique, Level II HCPCS (Health Care Common Procedure Coding System) product reimbursement code, Q4149. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made their determination to assign Excellagen a Q code after review of Cardium's HCPCS Level II Code Modification Request and subsequent supporting information. This new reimbursement code takes effect January 1, 2014.

Excellagen is a syringe-based prescription-only product for treating a wide range of wounds that is applied weekly in the office or hospital outpatient setting by a licensed clinician. This unique Q code is an important designation for providing a method for billing a product under Medicare and is utilized by many private payers as well. Q code designations represent an important step forward for the reimbursement process under Medicare.

Cardium's submission to CMS focused on Excellagen's unique product formulation and format, as well as maintenance during manufacture of collagen's structural properties that support chemotaxis, cellular adhesion, migration and proliferation, and granulation tissue development. The unique Q code assigned by CMS designates Excellagen as a single source product with a structural and functional role in providing a favorable wound healing environment.

"The Q code designation places Excellagen under the same code classification as well-known skin substitute wound care products such as Dermagraft®, Graftjacket® Xpress, EpiFix® and Integra® Flowable Wound Matrix. We believe Excellagen offers a compelling relative economic value proposition for wound care professionals in comparison to many of its competitors. The assignment of a new and unique Q code is an important building block in our strategy as we continue to credentialize and establish the evidence-based value for Excellagen," commented Christopher Reinhard, Cardium's CEO.

Excellagen is a sterile, syringe-based, professional-use, physiologically formulated homogenate of purified bovine dermal collagen (Type I) in its native, 3-dimensional fibrillar configuration, providing a structural scaffold for chemotaxis, cellular adhesion, migration and proliferation, and wound granulation. Excellagen's FDA clearance provides for very broad labeling including partial and full-thickness wounds, pressure ulcers, venous ulcers, diabetic ulcers, chronic vascular ulcers, tunneled/undermined wounds, surgical wounds (donor sites/graft, post-Mohs surgery, post-laser surgery, podiatric, wound dehiscence), trauma wounds (abrasions, lacerations, second-degree burns and skin tears) and draining wounds. Excellagen is intended for professional use following standard debridement procedures. Excellagen's unique fibrillar Type I bovine collagen homogenate formulation is topically applied through easy-to-control, pre-filled, sterile, single-use syringes and is designed for application at only one-week intervals."

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