Another Step Closer to the Attractive U.S. Market Q-Med Opens U.S. Head Office.

Business Editors

UPPSALA, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 2001

The Uppsala-based company Q-Med has opened its U.S. head office in Washington, DC. A sales organization is also being built up for DEFLUX, the company's first approved product in the USA. This means that the preparations for an entrance on the U.S. market have taken a great stride forward for the company.

In September this year Q-Med received FDA approval for the treatment of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in children with its product DEFLUX. The product is Q-Med's first to be approved for sale on the American market. In parallel with the FDA application process Q-Med began to build up a company organization in the USA. To this end the company's U.S. head office has now been opened in Washington, DC. The office is located in the Dulles Corner Office Center - a company park where many biomedical and technical companies have been set up. With its respected university, Washington offers good opportunities for Q-Med to recruit competent personnel.

Moreover, an administrative director, Ted Sullivan, has been employed for the U.S. market. He is also responsible for the company's regulatory questions in the USA. Further people who have been employed for the U.S. market are two business unit managers, Louis Frisina, who is responsible for the Esthetics business unit, and Magnus Precht, who is responsible for the Uro-Gynecology business unit and for the launch of DEFLUX in the USA. The launch of DEFLUX has been initiated in the USA with the training of doctors and through participation at medical congresses. A specialist salesmen group is also being built up.

Applications for registration in the USA of the esthetics preparation RESTYLANE and the osteoarthritis product DUROLANE are estimated to be submitted to the FDA at the end of the first half of 2002. The applications are based on two scientific studies which are currently being carried out in the USA and elsewhere.

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. Development of MACROLANE for body contouring, for example breast augmentation, is ongoing. DUROLANE, Q-Med's product for the treatment of osteoarthritis in 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 is estimated to be available in Europe in the beginning of 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. Q-Med today has over 230 employees, with 170 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 OM Stockholm Stock Exchange in December 1999 and is today to be found on the Attract 40 list.

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