LinkMed acquires world leading company in the transplantation sector

Press Release 
July 4, 2008


LinkMed acquires world leading company in the transplantation sector

LinkMed AB, a leading listed private equity company in the life science sector,
is acquiring 100 percent of the shares in Olerup SSP AB, a world leading company
in the transplantation area and one of Sweden's most profitable biotechnology
companies. The acquisition will further strengthen LinkMed's position in the
transplantation sector and is strategically important in that it complements
LinkMed's portfolio company AbSorber and its XM-ONE® product. In the long-term,
LinkMed strives to build a larger company in the transplantation sector with a
broad product portfolio. The value of the acquisition is SEK 216 million. 

Olerup SSP's products are primarily used prior to bone marrow transplantations,
while Absorber's product XM-ONE® is mainly used prior to organ transplantations,
with kidney transplantations being the most common. Both companies offer tests
that are required before a transplantation operation in order to match the donor
with the recipient. A better match between the donor and the recipient increases
the probability of a successful transplantation and lowers the risk of
complications such as rejections. 

The acquisition will be completed during July 2008. Subsequent to the
acquisition, Olerup SPP AB will be a wholly owned subsidiary of LinkMed AB.
Today, the company is owned by its founder Olle Olerup and is located outside
Stockholm, Sweden.

• From the date of acquisition LinkMed will report positive operating profit and
cash flow from operations. 

• Olerup SSP AB reported sales of SEK 69.0 million and an EBIT of SEK 35.9
million in 2007. Comparable sales in 2006 were SEK 64.5 million. EBIT margins
for the past five years have averaged 56 percent. 

• Olerup SPP AB is world leading in developing reagents and kits for low
resolution and high resolution HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) typing. The company
has a global sales agreement with the Germany company Qiagen, which is a leading
distributer in the area of diagnostics. 

• There are major synergies between Olerup SSP AB and LinkMed's portfolio
company AbSorber and its XM-One® product. The companies are deemed to be a good
strategic fit.

• Assistant Professor Olle Olerup will continue as CEO of Olerup SSP AB, after
it becomes a wholly owned LinkMed subsidiary. 

• The maximum purchase price is set at SEK 216 million, with part of the payment
being made in cash, part in convertibles and part as an additional purchase sum
linked to future sales goals.

The transaction is conditional to approval by an extraordinary meeting of
shareholders of LinkMed AB, at which a decision regarding the proposal of a
non-cash issue in the form of a convertible loan at a value of SEK 31 million
will be voted on.

”Olerup SSP AB is a well managed and very profitable company active in a growing
market that is of great interest to LinkMed. Better matching between the donor
and recipient increases the probability of a successful transplantation and is
extremely important for different types of transplantations,” says LinkMed's CEO
and founder Ingemar Lagerlöf. “Through our portfolio company Absorber and the
product XM-ONE® LinkMed is already establishing itself in this market and going
forward we see potential in creating a unique and significantly larger
transplantation company,” he continues.


The transplantation market

There is a great shortage of donors and organs today at the same time as the
need for donors and organs continues to increase, with waiting times becoming
longer and longer - circumstances that are referred to as the “organ gap”.
Today, approximately 25,000 bone marrow transplantations are carried out
globally per year of which 40 percent are between non-related donors and
patients. This type of transplantation is growing considerably faster than those
between relatives. The increase is largely due to the creation of donor
registers in recent years. According to WHO, the number of solid organ
transplantations per year exceeds 90,000. Kidney transplantations are the most
common, followed by liver transplantations. 


Olerup SSP AB and HLA typing

Olerup SSP AB was founded in 1992 and has 23 employees. The company is world
leading in the development of reagents and kits for genomic HLA typing, which is
a required step performed prior to a transplantation operation in order to match
the donor and recipient. HLA typing is primarily carried out before bone marrow
transplantations (hematopoietic stem cell transplantation) but is also carried
out in conjunction with solid organ transplantations (kidneys, lungs, hearts,
etc).

The better the match between donor and recipient, the lower the risk of
transplantation-related complications. Genomic HLA typing is therefore a
standard procedure prior to bone marrow transplantations. 

There are two types of HLA, class 1 and 2. The genes that steer tissue type are
found on the chromosome number 6 pair of chromosomes. In order to be able to
donate stem cells it is important that these HLA types match. A sibling may have
the same tissue type if they inherited the same chromosome number 6 from both
their mother and father. There is a one in four chance of this, resulting in
that relatives other than siblings almost never have the same tissue type, so
stem cells for bone marrow transplantations are primarily donated by siblings.
If no HLA identical siblings are available a search is carried out for a
non-related donor via, for example the Tobias Register in Sweden or other
similar bone marrow registers in other countries. Today, there are over 12
million people registered in different bone marrow registers. See Bone Marrow
Donors World Wide (www.bmdw.org).

There are an infinite number of genomic variants, alleles, of HLA and new
variants are identified continuously. Olerup SSP develops reagents and kits that
are used for HLA typing according to the PCR SSP method (sequence specific
primers), in which Olerup is world leading. Olerup SSP has one of the most
complete registers of reagents and kits now covering more than 3,000 identified
HLA variants. The company is highly skilled in developing new reagents and kits
as new genomic variants of HLA are identified.

“Over the past 16 years I have built up Olerup SPP and I am very pleased to be
passing on the torch to LinkMed. I am really passionate about the
transplantation sector and with LinkMed as the new owner I can be confident that
they will continue business in the same spirit. They have the expertise that is
required to develop the company and in conjunction with their other portfolio
company there is the opportunity to build something even bigger,” says Olerup
SPP CEO and founder, Assistant Professor, Olle Olerup.





For more information please contact:

Ingemar Lagerlöf, CEO LinkMed +46 8 508 939 93



LinkMed, in collaboration with innovators, develops new life science companies.
By contributing entrepreneurship and capital, LinkMed has created a portfolio of
eleven companies, six in biotechnology and five in medical technology. The
LinkMed share is listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm in the small-cap
sector (ticker:LMED). The company's largest owners are FastPartner, Koncentra
Holding, and the founder Ingemar Lagerlöf. See www.linkmed.se for more
information.