Hull, UK – 14 July, 2009 – Smith & Nephew’s Advanced Wound Management division (LSE: SN; NYSE: SNN) announced that the UK Court of Appeal has ruled as invalid all claims asserted against Smith and Nephew of the patent EP 0 626 720 that is licensed to Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (NYSE: KCI). As a result, the preliminary injunction against Smith & Nephew’s RENASYSà-F NPWT system has been lifted.
The Patents Court had ruled on 1 May, 2009 that 7 out of 10 claims asserted were invalid but that the remaining 3 had been infringed by Smith & Nephews RENASYS-F dressing. This decision was appealed and subsequently won by Smith & Nephew with today’s Court ruling.
“This favourable ruling for Smith & Nephew clears a major legal hurdle in the UK allowing us to offer our customers the breadth of NPWT products with proven clinical efficacy,” said Robin Carlstein, Senior Vice President of Advanced Wound Devices at Smith & Nephew. “Clearly, we are pleased with the UK Court of Appeal’s findings in this matter and look forward to servicing our customers with our RENASYSà-F NPWT products in a very important market for the company.” For more information regarding Smith & Nephew, please visit our Web site at http://www.smith-nephew.com
About Smith & Nephew
Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business, specializing in Orthopaedics, including Reconstruction, Trauma and Clinical Therapies, Endoscopy and Advanced Wound Management. Smith & Nephew is a global leader in arthroscopy and advanced wound management and is one of the leading global orthopaedics companies. Smith & Nephew is dedicated to helping improve people’s lives. The Company prides itself on the strength of its relationships with its surgeons and professional healthcare customers, with whom its name is synonymous with high standards of performance, innovation and trust. The Company operates in 32 countries around the world. Annual sales in 2008 were nearly $3.8 billion.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In particular, statements regarding expected revenue growth and trading margins discussed under “Outlook” are forward-looking statements as are discussions of our product pipeline. These statements, as well as the phrases “aim”, “plan”, “intend”, “anticipate”, “well-placed”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “target”, “consider” and similar expressions, are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors (including, but not limited to, the outcome of litigation, claims and regulatory approvals) that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Smith & Nephew, or industry results, to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Please refer to the documents that Smith & Nephew has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including Smith & Nephew’s most recent annual report on Form 20F, for a discussion of certain of these factors.
All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Smith & Nephew as of the date hereof. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Smith & Nephew or any person acting on behalf of Smith & Nephew are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing. Smith & Nephew does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Smith & Nephew’s expectation with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
