UPPSALA, Sweden, Feb. 10, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Q-Med Group (Stockholm:QMED) has signed an agreement to divest all shares in the wholly-owned subsidiary HA North American Sales AB to Medicis (NYSE:MRX). HA North American Sales AB's most important asset is the market rights to sell RESTYLANE(R), RESTYLANE(R) Fine Lines and PERLANE(TM) in the USA and Canada. The deal does not comprise any other products than these three. In addition, Q-Med retains the rights to exclusive production of the three products for the North American market for 10 years with normal profit margins.
Terms of payment
The deal generates a gross revenue and capital gain of USD 160 million, which goes to the Q-Med Group in stages as and when the agreed conditions are met. A first payment of USD 58.2 million will be made provided that the American antitrust authority approves the deal. After sales approval has been obtained from the FDA for RESTYLANE(R) in the USA, a payment of USD 53.3 million falls due. USD 29.1 million falls due after sales approval of PERLANE(TM). When HA North American Sales AB has achieved sales over a rolling 12-month period of USD 40 million a last one-time payment of USD 19.4 million falls due to Q-Med.
In addition, Medicis holds an option to acquire future esthetic products that are developed by Q-Med for sale on the North American market at a valuation made on the occasion of the acquisition, based on an estimation of the market value.
Q-Med will be responsible for the improvement of existing products and the development of new products, and will carry out sales in the rest of the world under its own management.
"The deal gives us a highly reputable partner and a natural channel out onto the market in the USA also for our esthetic products in the future. We expect to carry out similar transactions for other product areas as well in the future when appropriate. Furthermore, through this deal we release strategic and financial resources to strengthen Q-Med's leading position in all markets outside the USA," said Bengt Agerup, President and principal owner of Q-Med.
Press conference
A press conference will be held at Operaterrassen at 12:30 pm, at which time the annual financial statements will also be presented.
Q-Med AB (publ)
Bengt Agerup, President and CEO
Queries should be addressed to:
Bengt Agerup, President and CEO +46 70-974 90 25 Erika Kjellberg Eriksson +46 70- 974 90 20 Johan Hahnel, Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications +46 70-231 08 07
Q-Med AB in brief
Q-Med is a rapidly growing and profitable biotechnology/medical device company that develops, produces and markets medical implants. All products are based on the company's patented technology for the production of NASHA -- Non-Animal Stabilized Hyaluronic Acid. Q-Med's operations focus on the four areas of Esthetics, Orthopedics, Uro- Gynecology, and Cell Therapy and Encapsulation. The products RESTYLANE, RESTYLANE Fine Lines and PERLANE are used for the filling out of lips and facial wrinkles and today account for the majority of sales. A clinical study on MACROLANE for body contouring, for example breast augmentation, is ongoing. DUROLANE, Q-Med's product for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint, has been approved in Europe since May 2001. DEFLUX is a product which has been approved in Europe and the USA for the treatment of vesicoureteral reflux (malformation of the urinary bladder) in children. ZUIDEX for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women has been sold in Europe since July 2002. Since July 2000 Q-Med has owned a majority interest in the American biotechnology company Ixion Biotechnology, Inc., with research within cell therapy for diabetes and within oxalate control. Q-Med today has 369 employees, with approximately 255 at the company's production facility and head office in Uppsala, 20 at Ixion and the remainder in wholly owned foreign sales companies. The Q-Med share was first listed on the O-list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange in December 1999.
Medicis in brief
Medicis is a leading pharmaceutical company in the USA which offers a broad range of products within, amongst other things, the treatment of acne, pigmenting, psoriasis, eczema, skin infections and a large number of other skin- related conditions. Medicis is listed on the NYSE (MRX), has a turnover of over SEK 2 billion and during the past five years has had an annual growth of 40 percent. For further information; www.medicis.com.
Q-Med AB (publ), Seminariegatan 21, SE-752 28 Uppsala, Sweden. Corporate identity number 556258-6882. Tel: +46(0)18-474 90 00. Fax: +46(0)18-474 90 01. Email:info@qmed.com. Home page: www.q-med.com.
One million treatments in a rapidly growing market
The world market for injectable products for facial esthetics is today estimated to amount to approximately SEK 4 billion and to be growing by around 20 percent annually. So far more than one million treatments have been carried out in the world using one or another of Q-Med's esthetic products to fill out wrinkles, lips or other parts of the body.
RESTYLANE(R), which is used to fill out wrinkles in the face, was approved for sale in Europe in September 1996. In March 2000 the two complementary products PERLANE(TM) and RESTYLANE(R) Fine Lines were launched. The former is used for lips and deep folds, and the latter for superficial wrinkles.
The products are sold in more than 60 markets in Europe, South America and Asia, via Q-Med's eight sales companies or by means of distributors. During 2002 no product within the esthetics area had yet been approved in the USA, which represents around half of the total world market.
An application for the registration of RESTYLANE(R) in the USA was submitted in June 2002 and, if successful, it is estimated that approval will be obtained during the first half of 2003. The application is based primarily on a study in which RESTYLANE(R) was compared with the leading collagen- based product on the U.S. market. The study, in which 138 patients were treated at six leading clinics in the USA, showed that RESTYLANE(R) had a six times better effect than the product it was being compared with.
Today there are only collagen-based products available in the USA for the filling out of wrinkles. These are animal products which require an allergy test before injection and which stay in place for a shorter period of time than RESTYLANE(R). When RESTYLANE(R) is approved in the USA, it will be the first non-animal stabilized hyaluronic acid that can be sold in the country. An application for sales of PERLANE(TM) in the USA will be submitted as soon as RESTYLANE(R) has been approved.
During autumn 2002 a breast augmentation study was started with the product MACROLANE. The study will be ongoing for two years, but it is estimated that there will be a first sub-report during 2003. It is estimated that the results from this study will form the basis for decisions concerning possible further clinical studies which in turn are planned to be part of a CE-application during the beginning of 2004 for sales in Europe and of a study for an application for sales on the North American market. In addition to the above areas, Q-Med is also developing products that will fill out other parts of the body. Amongst other things, a registration application for a product for facial esthetics with subcutaneous administration will be submitted in Europe (so-called CE-application) during 2003. The product is intended for reconstructive plastic surgery for medical indications such as trauma, facial defects or the treatment of facial lipodystrophy.
Q-Med AB
Q-Med is a rapidly growing and profitable biotechnology company that develops, produces and markets medical implants. All products are based on the company's patented technology for the production of NASHA -- Non-Animal Stabilized Hyaluronic Acid. Q-Med's operations focus on the four areas of Esthetics, Orthopedics, Uro-Gynecology, and Cell Therapy and Encapsulation.
In addition to the products within the esthetics area, Q-Med markets and sells DUROLANE for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint, DEFLUX, which is a product approved in Europe and in the USA for the treatment of vesicoureteral reflux (malformation of the urinary bladder) in children, and ZUIDEX(TM) for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence. Moreover, since July 2000 Q-Med has owned a majority interest in the American biotechnology company Ixion Biotechnology, Inc., with research within cell therapy for diabetes, amongst other things.
Q-Med today has 369 employees, with 255 at the company's production facility and head office in Uppsala, 20 at Ixion and the remainder in wholly owned foreign sales companies. Q-Med's head office is in Uppsala and the Cell Therapy and Encapsulation business is located in Florida, where Ixion has its research facility. In addition, Q-Med has 8 wholly owned subsidiaries. These subsidiaries are to be found in France, Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Canada, Australia (incl. New Zealand) and the USA.
The seats on Q-Med's Board are held by Bjorn Odlander, President of Odlander, Fredrikson & Co and Chairman of HealthCap AB, Anders Milton, Chairman of the Swedish Red Cross, Tomas Billing, President and CEO of Nordstjernan AB, Goran Carstedt, Ph.D., Society for Organizational Learning, Hakan Edstrom, President of MannKind Corporation and Bengt Agerup. The Chairman of the Board is the lawyer Robert Wikholm from the law firm Vinge.
The largest owners in Q-Med are Bengt Agerup via Agerup Holding (47.8%), HealthCap KB (9.3%), State Street Bank and Trust (6.6%), and Fidelity Funds (3.5%). The Q-Med share was first listed on the O-list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange in December 1999.
Attached: Press material Q-Med
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