Covalon announces worldwide agreement with Smith & Nephew
March 19, 2007
Mississauga, Ontario – March 19, 2007: Covalon Technologies Ltd. (the “Corporation” or “Covalon”) (TSX Venture: COV) announced that it has entered into a 5 year world-wide distribution agreement with Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN; LSE: SN), www.smith-nephew.com, a world leader in wound care. Smith & Nephew will be the exclusive world-wide distributor for all Covalon’s collagen-based wound care products, including the ColActiveTM range.
Smith & Nephew and Covalon have worked extensively over the past several months to complete an agreement for global distribution of Covalon’s advanced wound management products. The agreement secures for Smith&Nephew proprietary collagen technology and a strong pipeline of wound care products in the high growth, advanced wound care market segment. S&N has a significant commitment to improve its market share in a product category currently underserved and representing excellent growth opportunity.
Dr. Frank DiCosmo, President and CEO of Covalon stated: “The agreement is an important milestone for Covalon; it marks a highly synergistic relationship with access to the world’s largest wound care distribution network. Smith & Nephew is a premier company in advanced wound care and with this relationship Covalon gets top-level distribution through a large and experienced, world-wide sales force that is a leader in advanced wound care marketing”.
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 has over 8,500 employees and operates in 33 countries around the world generating annual sales in excess of $2.6 billion.
Joe Woody, President, Smith & Nephew Advanced Wound Management, said, "this is an important entry into a fast growing product category and reinforces our strategic focus on the US. The Covalon agreement is in-line with our strategy to aggressively acquire or partner, enabling access to advanced technologies that deliver true patients benefits and shareholder value”.
Roger Teasdale, Senior Vice President of the Advanced Wound Care Strategic Business Unit, said, “The addition of the Covalon collagen dressing range truly strengthens the Smith & Nephew product portfolio and the obvious synergies between the two companies also look set to deliver exciting future new product development opportunities in addition to the current distributed products”.
Covalon Technologies Ltd. is a developer of advanced medical products which has patented therapeutic biomaterials for wound care and surgical applications, and coatings for medical devices. Polymer chemistry and surface coating technology have been combined to create a range of time-release drug delivery platforms that can be applied to many medical devices. A variety of applications for this technology have been identified and specific products have been developed. These products feature solutions to many of the problems caused by the material properties of the medical devices currently offered by most manufacturers and suppliers.
This news release contains forward-looking statements which reflect the Corporation’s current expectations regarding future events. The forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as “seek”, “anticipate”, “plan, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend” and statements that an event or result “may”, “will”, “should”, “could” or “might” occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, including the difficulty in predicting product approvals, acceptance of and demands for new products, the impact of the products and pricing strategies of competitors, delays in developing and launching new products, the regulatory environment, fluctuations in operating results and other risks, any of which could cause results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Many risks are inherent in the industry; others are more specific to the Corporation. Investors should consult Covalon’s ongoing quarterly filings for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to these forward-looking statements. Investors should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Management assumes no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, further events or otherwise.
For further information please contact:
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William Jackson, CFO & COO |
Sidonie Myers | |
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T (905) 568-8400 |
T +44 (0) 14826732 |
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this release.
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