Smith & Nephew Highlights Advanced Wound Management Progress
Advanced Wound Management achieves underlying revenues growth of 4% in Q2
St. Petersburg, FL (PRWEB) July 31, 2009
Smith & Nephew (LSE: SN; NYSE: SNN) highlights the progress achieved in 2009 by its Advanced Wound Management division. As reported earlier today, Advanced Wound Management's global revenue grew to $208m in the second quarter and $386m for the first half of 2009, increasing by 4% and 6% over the comparable periods of 2008. This growth was driven by gains across its portfolio of strategic brands, RENASYS™ negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) products, the VERSAJET™ hydrosurgery tool, and ACTICOAT™ and ALLEVYN™ advanced dressings. Revenue from the US grew by 4% YTD.
"Our Advanced Wound Management division continues to be a strong contributor to the group's success," said Dave Illingworth, Chief Executive Officer of Smith & Nephew. "We anticipate continued growth throughout the year, and steady progress with our RENASYS™ line of NPWT products, which was launched in the first half of the year and has made an excellent start."
Smith & Nephew continued its drive to improve customer choice in NPWT by launching RENASYS™ EZ and RENASYS™ GO NPWT pumps in the first quarter. Revenue from the NPWT product range, including RENASYS™ gauze and foam dressings and related disposables, contributed 2% to the division's overall revenue growth in the quarter. The company successfully asserted its IP position in NPWT with particular successes in the United Kingdom and Germany. And leading clinicians brought forward multiple, new research studies using Smith & Nephew NPWT devices at the major wound care, burn and orthopaedic clinical conferences.
The silver coated antimicrobial barrier ACTICOAT™ dressing and sustained antibacterial releasing ALLEVYN™ Ag dressing drove Advanced Wound Management's revenue growth, as demonstrated by the 13% growth in infection management product revenues in the quarter and 21% in the half. In the second quarter, Smith & Nephew made ACTICOAT™ dressings available for use as a wound contact layer with NPWT, heightening antimicrobial activity for a greater bacterial kill rate, increased patient comfort and ease of use.
Earlier this week, Smith & Nephew announced the launch of ACTICOAT™ Flex 3 and ACTICOAT™ Flex 7, which provide enhanced conformability and patient comfort for wounds on awkward anatomical areas, and at a high risk of infection. The ACTICOAT™ Flex products were recently cleared for market by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration.
ALLEVYN™ dressing, the market leading hydrocellular wound dressing, grew well in the quarter with strong sales of the new ALLEVYN™ Gentle, ALLEVYN™ Gentle Border and ALLEVYN™ Ag products.
Advanced Wound Management's new manufacturing facility in Suzhou, China was officially opened in June this year. The plant will manufacture ALLEVYN™ adhesive dressings which are used globally to treat conditions such as geriatric and diabetic ulcers. The plant is built to the highest international standards and specifications, and will employ the same advanced manufacturing processes used by Smith & Nephew globally. It is designed to accommodate greater manufacturing volumes or a broader range of products as demand increases in the future. Test batches of production have been underway for several weeks and this process will continue for a few months until full scale production is started towards the end of the year.
"Smith & Nephew is committed to helping clinicians at every stage of wound treatment deliver the best possible care," said Roger Teasdale, President, Advanced Wound Management. "And we have been very deliberate in our decisions to enter markets in which our deep history and expertise in wound care can drive significant value for healthcare institutions. This is reflected in our strong results to date. We are very pleased with our progress, and our customers can rest assured that we will continue to work hard to bring them products and solutions that they can choose with confidence."
For more information about Smith & Nephew, please go to www. smith-nephew. com. Product-specific information is available at www. myrenasys. com, www. versajet. info, www. allevyn. com, and www. acticoat. com.
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About Smith & Nephew
Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business, specializing in Orthopaedics, including Reconstruction, Trauma and Clinical Therapies; Endoscopy and Advanced Wound Management. Smith & Nephew is a global leader in arthroscopy and advanced wound management and is one of the leading global orthopaedics companies.
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 operates in 32 countries around the world. Annual sales in 2008 were $3.8 billion.
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