OREANDA-NEWS. Photocure ASA hosted on August 25 an educational event in New York aimed at institutional investors and analysts, which focused on the treatment of bladder cancer. At the event, key opinion leaders (KOLs) from the New York Presbyterian / Columbia Hospital, University of Chicago, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center presented details on the diagnosis, treatment and management of bladder cancer; gave an update on the new American Urological Association / Society of Urologic Oncology guidelines, and addressed progress being made in the evolving field of genomics in guiding treatment and the future direction of bladder cancer management. During the event, physicians also highlighted the role of Photocure's Blue Light Cystoscopy with Cysview®, in the detection and management of bladder cancer.

Kjetil Hestdal, President and CEO of Photocure commented, "We would like to thank participants for joining us at this informative event. We are encouraged by the progress we are seeing with Blue Light Cystoscopy with Cysview in the US marketplace and are committed to making this important product accessible to patients and physicians in this market."

Bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer in men with more than 330,000 new cases annually and more than 130,000 die of the disease. It has a high recurrence rate with an average of 61% in one year and 78% over five years, making the lifetime costs of managing bladder cancer one of the highest amongst all cancers. It is a costly, potentially progressive disease for which patients have to undergo multiple cystoscopies because of the high risk of recurrence. A recent paper on the economic burden of bladder cancer across the European Union estimates that bladder cancer cost the EU 4.9 billion Euro in 2012. There is an urgent need to improve both the diagnosis and the management of bladder cancer for the benefit of patients and healthcare systems alike.

Bladder cancer is classified into two types, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), depending on the depth of invasion in the bladder wall. NMIBC is still in the inner layer of cells. These cancers are the most common (75%) of all bladder cancer cases and include the subtypes Ta, carcinoma in situ (CIS) and T1 lesions. MIBC is when the cancer has grown into deeper layers of the bladder wall. These cancers, including subtypes T2, T3 and T4, are more likely to spread and are harder to treat.

Photocure, headquartered in Oslo, Norway, is a specialty pharmaceutical company and world leader in photodynamic technology. Based on our unique proprietary Photocure Technology® platform, Photocure develops and commercializes highly selective and effective solutions within disease areas with high-unmet medical need, such as bladder cancer, HPV and precancerous cervical lesions, and skin conditions. Our aim is to provide solutions, which can improve health outcomes for patients worldwide. Photocure is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: PHO).