FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Smith & Nephew (LSE: SN, NYSE: SNN), the global medical technology business, announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Healthpoint Biotherapeutics for $782 million in cash. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in December 2012.

Healthpoint Biotherapeutics, founded in 1992 by Chairman and CEO Paul Dorman, has been focused on biopharmaceutical leadership in acute, chronic, and burn-related wound care over the last several years. The Company has driven impressive growth in its commercial platform, led by sales of Collagenase Santyl ointment, and also laid the groundwork for strong future growth through development of a novel cell therapy, HP802-247, which completed a successful phase 2b in 2011 (recently published in The Lancet) and for which a North American phase 3 trial was initiated this September.

“Healthpoint and Smith & Nephew have much in common,” stated Paul Dorman, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Healthpoint. “We share a commitment to innovation, the desire to serve healthcare professionals and a fundamental dedication to improve the quality of life for patients. We are very proud of our employees and the business we have built and believe now is the right time to allow it to grow to the next level by joining a global organization like Smith & Nephew.”

“This acquisition makes a lot of sense for both companies,” stated Travis Baugh, President and Chief Operating Officer of Healthpoint Biotherapeutics. “It will enable us to accelerate many of the initiatives we wanted to pursue and will provide development and promotional opportunities to our employees that would not have been available to them had we stayed an independent company. It also gives Smith & Nephew a new engine for growth for the next decade and beyond.”

Commenting, Olivier Bohuon, Chief Executive Officer of Smith & Nephew, said: “The acquisition of Healthpoint is an important step for Smith & Nephew, and for our Advanced Wound Management division. Strategically, it gives us a strong position in the fastest growing area of advanced wound management – bioactives. And it does this bringing material revenues from a fast growing product range, an attractive pipeline, and the commercial and R&D capabilities upon which we can build. The combination creates a truly unique wound care business – having leadership positions across exudate and infection management, negative pressure and bioactives to offer to our customers.”

Deutsche Bank is serving as financial adviser to Smith & Nephew on the transaction and Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan served as financial advisers to Healthpoint.

About HP802-247

HP802-247 is an investigational allogeneic living human cell suspension that consists of two components that are sprayed sequentially on the wound bed at the time of treatment: a fibrinogen solution and a cell preparation containing a mixture of growth arrested, living, allogeneic epidermal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts.

Based on in vitro studies, HP802-247 is believed to release various growth factors and cytokines into the micro-environment of the wound. These living cells are anticipated to interact with the patient’s own cells to stimulate wound healing. HP802-247 has been designed to deliver a defined cell ratio (keratinocyte:fibroblasts) to allow safe and optimal tissue regeneration.

Positive topline results for a Phase IIb clinical trial investigating the efficacy of HP802-247 in venous leg ulcers were recently announced. The study was a randomized, double blind, dose-finding study involving 228 subjects enrolled across 35 investigational centers in the United States. Overall, HP802-247 achieved statistical significance, as compared with control plus standard care, in both the primary and secondary endpoints. HP802-247 appears to be generally safe and well tolerated, with the safety profile of the active groups being similar to placebo.

About Healthpoint Biotherapeutics

Healthpoint Biotherapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel, cost-effective solutions for dermal repair and regeneration. The company’s research and development strategy is presently centered around next-generation bioactive therapies for the treatment of chronic wounds. Currently marketed products include Collagenase SANTYL Ointment, OASIS Wound Matrix, OASIS Ultra Tri-Layer Matrix and REGRANEX Gel. Healthpoint Biotherapeutics is also committed to advancing the care and treatment of wounds through support of industry leading continuing education from The Wound Institute. To learn more about this comprehensive and award winning educational resource, please visit TheWoundInstitute.com. Healthpoint Biotherapeutics is a DFB Pharmaceuticals, Inc., affiliate company, and is based in Fort Worth, Texas. For more information, visit the company website at www.Healthpointbio.com.

HEALTHPOINT, SANTYL, THE WOUND INSTITUTE, THEWOUNDINSTITUTE.COM and REGRANEX are registered trademarks of Healthpoint, Ltd.

OASIS is a registered trademark of Cook Biotech, Inc.

SOURCE Healthpoint Biotherapeutics