Lung transplantations using new technology carried out in North America

Lung transplantations using new technology carried out in North America

For the first time lung transplantations have been performed in North America
using the STEEN Solution™ technology. The transplantations were done in Toronto,
Canada, and are part of the study that is being carried out as a basis for the
application for sales approval in the USA and Canada. “It is very good to be
able to observe that three further patients with lung disease have been able to
be helped by means of this new technology, that it has been adopted by North
America's most experienced lung transplantation clinic and that the clinical
study involving our unique product is now well underway,” says Magnus Nilsson,
Vitrolife's CEO.

At the beginning of September Vitrolife announced that approval had been
received from the Canadian authorities to start a study with STEEN Solution™.
The study, which has been designed in consultation with the American FDA, is
planned for quarters three to four of 2008 and will be the key element in the
application for sales approval in USA and Canada. It is within the framework of
this study that the first three transplantations have now been carried out in
Toronto in Canada.

The first lung transplantation outside Sweden using the STEEN Solution™
technology was recently performed. The transplantation was carried out in one of
the large EU countries and within the region there are a further number of
clinics in the starting blocks, ready to use the technology. Earlier on in the
development and the first clinical use eight transplantations have been carried
out using STEEN Solution™ at the University Hospital of Lund, where this
pioneering technology was developed under the leadership of Professor Stig
Steen. 

Vitrolife's product STEEN Solution™ is part of a new method for functional
testing and preservation of lungs outside the body. The technology makes it
possible for the first time to test the function of donated lungs outside the
body by pumping STEEN Solution™ into the organ's system of vessels at normal
body temperature before possible use.

With the STEEN Solution™ method, the number of potential organs that can be
transplanted increases considerably. In the USA, for example, less than 20
percent of the lungs donated are transplanted today, due to uncertainty about
the function of the organ. In time the STEEN Solution™ method can lead to a
fivefold to tenfold increase in the number of lung transplantations carried out,
as the need for donated organs using today's methods considerably exceeds
supply. 

Vitrolife is today the market leader within the area of lung preservation
solutions with its product Perfadex® and more than 90 percent of all lung
transplantations in the world are performed using this product. Together with
STEEN Solution™, Perfadex® is also part of the new method for functional testing
and preservation of lungs outside the body. 

STEEN Solution™ has already been approved for sales in Europe and Australia. The
patent has so far been approved in Australia and the USA. 

October 21, 2008
Kungsbacka, Sweden 
Magnus Nilsson
CEO

Queries should be addressed to: 
Magnus Nilsson, CEO, phone +46 31 721 80 00 or +46 708 22 80 61.
Anna Ahlberg, CFO, phone +46 31 721 80 13 or +46 708 22 80 13.


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Vitrolife is a global biotechnology/medical device Group that works with
developing, manufacturing and selling advanced products and systems for the
preparation, cultivation and storage of human cells, tissue and organs. The
company has business activities within three product areas: Fertility,
Transplantation and Stem Cell Cultivation. The Fertility product area works with
nutrient solutions (media) and advanced consumable instruments such as needles
and pipettes, for the treatment of human infertility. The Transplantation
product area works with solutions and systems to maintain tissue in optimal
condition outside the body for the required time while waiting for
transplantation. The Stem Cell Cultivation product area works with media and
instruments to enable the use and handling of stem cells for therapeutic
purposes. 
     Vitrolife today has approximately 140 employees and the company's products
are sold in more than 80 markets. The head office is in Kungsbacka, Sweden, and
there are subsidiaries in Sweden, USA, Australia and Italy. The Vitrolife share
is listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm's Nordic Small Cap list.
________________________________________________________________________________
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Vitrolife AB (publ), Faktorvägen 13, SE-434 37 Kungsbacka, Sweden. Corporate
identity number 556354-3452.
Tel: +46 31 721 80 00. Fax: +46 31 721 80 90. E-mail: info@vitrolife.com.
Homepage: www.vitrolife.com.

This is a translation of the Swedish version of the press release. When in
doubt, the Swedish wording prevails.