Orthovita wins patent dispute.

MALVERN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 1995--Orthovita Inc., Malvern manufacturer of bone growth materials, announced Monday that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has stated that it will issue a Reexamination Certificate reconfirming the patentability of all claims of United States Patent 5,204,106 for a Process for Restoring an Osseous Defect or Deficiency by Filling with Osseous Tissue.

U.S. Patent 5,204,106, is owned by FBFC International S.A. of Belgium. This patent is exclusively licensed to Orthovita and covers Orthovita's methods of using BioGran(TM), its bone growth material for bone loss repair. Orthovita has recently received FDA and European Common Market approval to market BioGran for certain periodontal and dental applications and has begun marketing BioGran worldwide.

US Biomaterials distributes its own grafting material and asked the U.S. Patent Office to institute a reexamination challenge to Orthovita's patent. US Biomaterials argued that the '106 patent was invalid in view of a patent said to be controlled and used by US Biomaterials. However, the U.S. Patent Office disagreed and upheld the validity of all claims of the Orthovita patent.

"Reconfirmation of the validity of one of our patents is indeed gratifying" said David S. Joseph, president and chief executive officer of Orthovita. This new generation of bone growth biomaterials, according to the company, "is a significant development in bone tissue engineering." "Protection and validation of our intellectual property continues to position us in our development of bone tissue engineering technology and future orthopaedic applications."

The company currently holds seven patents and has 16 patents that are pending. Orthovita, founded in 1993, is a biomaterials company with technologies based on advanced bioactive materials for synthetic bone grafts, composites and bioactive carriers for controlled drug release.

CONTACT: Orthovita Inc., Malvern

David S. Joseph, 610/640-1775, fax: [phone]