MEDICREA: H1 2012 Sales

LYON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

The MEDICREA Group (FR0004178572-ALMED), listed on Alternext by NYSE - Euronext Paris, a company specialized in the development of innovative surgical technologies for the treatment of spinal pathologies, announces its sales for the 1^st half of 2012.

H1 2012 SALES

€m	H1 2011	H2 2011	H1 2012
Sales	11.0	8.2	10.8
Variation in foreign currency had a positive effect of 3% on H1 2012 sales

Over the 1^st half of 2012, MEDICREA recorded sales of 10.8 million euros, an increase of 32% on the 2^nd half of 2011. Growth accelerated over the 2^nd quarter of the current financial year, with sales totaling 6 million euros compared to 4.9 million euros for the 1^st quarter.

“We are gradually seeing a return to a level of activity that is more in line with our ambitions, with the last quarter notably seeing a sales record. Our US subsidiary’s sales organization changes, which temporarily weighed on our growth during the 2^nd half of 2011, are beginning to bear fruit and we are anticipating a regular acceleration in our US sales over the 2^nd half of 2012. The new products recently approved and launched on the American market, notably the LigaPASS with which we have already performed 30 complex surgical spine procedures, is arousing interest from opinion-leader health practitioners specializing in major spinal deformities”, says Denys SOURNAC, Chairman and CEO of MEDICREA.

The product range has been significantly expanded, with the presentation of 6 new implants at the two largest international spine conferences in late 2011 and at SPINEWEEK in May 2012. There have been a succession of sales launches since the start of the year, notably including the PASS MIS minimally-invasive thoraco-lumbar fixation system that enables the vertebrae to be manipulated and stabilized remotely through a percutaneous approach, and the LigaPASS band-connector system, which enables rods to be connected to the spine thanks to a soft band technique rather than traditional anchoring options of screws or hooks. “The Group now has an extensive technological platform that allows most degenerative spinal pathologies to be treated. This platform will be supplemented during the 2^nd half of the year with the commercial launch of other recently-developed innovations such as the PASS OCT, a spinal system for the treatment of occipital, cervical and thoracic spinal conditions, which will be targeted primarily at the American market, and LaminoJAWS, the first “non-fusion” implant allowing reconstruction of the posterior cervical arch under cervical laminoplasty”, adds Denys SOURNAC.

Outlook

New products should start to contribute to the Group’s activity over the 2^nd half of the year. The Group now has an ultra-comprehensive new-generation thoraco-lumbar fixation system on which it will rely to increase its market share, in particular in the United States. Sales should continue to regularly increase over the 2^nd half of 2012, and thus be substantially higher than over the same period of 2011.

The Group is continuing to hold strategic partnership talks with American players, with a view to signing exclusive license agreements for the distribution of a number of MEDICREA’s technologies.

A decisive meeting with the FDA in June enabled the Group to validate the final stages that need to be implemented, and which should result in approval being granted for the K-Jaws® implant, for which the Group has already negotiated a preliminary distribution deal, before the end of the year.

Next publication

Results for the 1^st half of 2012: October 11^th 2012, after market.

ABOUT MEDICREA (www.medicrea.com)

MEDICREA specializes in the design, development, manufacture and distribution of orthopedic implants dedicated to spinal surgery.

In a $9 billion market, MEDICREA is a very dynamic small to medium-sized business of 100 employees with unique innovation capabilities. The Company enjoys an excellent and ever-improving reputation and develops unique relationships with the most visionary and creative spine surgeons in France, the UK, and the USA. Products developed and patented by MEDICREA provide neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons specialized in the spine with new and less-invasive surgical solutions that are faster and easier to implement than traditional techniques. The Group’s headquarters are based in Lyon, France, and it also has a manufacturing facility located in La Rochelle as well as three distribution subsidiaries in the USA, the UK and France.

MEDICREA is listed on ALTERNEXT by NYSE - Euronext Paris

ISIN: FR 0004178572 – Ticker: ALMED