IPO for Q-Med

Q-Med to the Stockholm Stock Exchange * The board of directors of Q-Med AB (publ) has decided to broaden the ownership through an issue of a maximum of 5,000,000 new shares, corresponding to a minimum of SEK 250 million1 . In connection with the offering, Q-Med has applied for a listing of the company's shares on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (O-list). * New issue of shares will finance continued strong growth with good profitability. The proceeds from the new issue of shares will be used to meet the company's increased demand for working capital, for the launch of new products and the establishment of new distribution facilities in e.g. the USA and Japan and for research and development. * Offering period: November 16 - 26, 1999 * The offer price is expected to be set within the range: 50 - 58 SEK per share The company Q-Med develops, manufactures and commercializes products and medical implants for aesthetic and medical applications within the areas aesthetics, osteoarthritis and urology. In addition, Q-Med is engaged in research into the use of hyaluronic acid's potential as a cell therapy and drug delivery vehicle for pharmaceutical and biological compounds. The company's products are primarily based on its proprietary and patented technology regarding non- animal stabilized hyaluronic acid ("NASHA"). More than 200,000 patients have so far been treated with Q-Med's products. Financial development Patent applications covering the NASHA-technology were submitted in 1995 and Restylane was launched during the fourth quarter of 1996. The company's revenues have increased from SEK 21.6 million in 1996 to SEK 85.2 million in 1998. The operating margin has during the same period increased from 12.0% to 14.5% despite substantially increased investments in product development and expansion into new markets. For the first nine months of 1999, revenues amounted to SEK 98.7 million and operating income amounted to SEK 14.6 million. Hyaluronic acid Hyaluronic acid ("HA") is a naturally occurring biocompatible polymer found throughout the human body. Its major functions in the body are to bind water and to lubricate movable parts of the body such as joints and muscles and to transport nutrients to and from cells. Q-Med is a rapidly growing medical device company in Uppsala that develops, produces and sells non-animal hyaluronic acid based medical implants. All the products manufactured in-house by Q-Med are based on the company's patented technology for the production of NASHA - Non-Animal Stabilized Hyaluronic Acid. Q-Med is focused on aesthetics, osteoarthritis and urology. The company was founded in 1987 and has today a total of 100 employees, with 80 at Q-Med's production facility and head office in Uppsala and the remainder in wholly owned foreign subsidiaries. 1 In addition, Bengt Ågerup (Agerup Holding B.V.) and HealthCap KB have granted the underwriters an over-allotment option to purchase up to 1,000,000 shares in connection with the offering. Q-Med's technology Q-Med's products, based on NASHA, a non-animal HA manufactured through the fermentation of bacteria and thereafter stabilized, have the following advantages: * Non-animal HA is of high purity. As a result, the risks of transmission of viruses and the occurrence of allergic reactions are minimized as opposed to HA produced from animal sources (e.g. rooster combs). * Through its NASHA-technology, Q-Med has succeeded in stabilizing non-animal HA. The method is patented until 2015. The stabilization prolongs the degradation of the products that are injected in the body, thereby prolonging the therapeutic or aesthetic effect. * Q-Med's NASHA can be manufactured in large quantities at low costs. Business Units The company is active in the following areas: Aesthetics Restylane is a product used in the treatment of facial wrinkles and folds, and to increase the volume of the lips. Also within Aesthetics, Restylane Fine Lines, for the treatment of finer wrinkles and lines, and Perlane, for deeper injections for the treatment of more profound wrinkles and scars, have been developed and will be launched shortly. Further, the company is developing Macrolane, a NASHA-based product to be used in an injectable procedure for breast augmentation. The product is intended to replace or complement some existing breast implants that primarily consist of silicone and saline. Osteoarthritis Durolane, a product for the treatment of osteoarthritis, is in development. Osteoarthritis is characterized by a gradual breakdown of the cartilage in joints. Osteoarthritis is a very painful, debilitating and degenerative disease which ranges from mild to very severe and mainly afflicts the middle to older age group. Osteoarthritis is believed to be the world's most common form of joint disease. Urology Deflux is a product for the treatment of vesicoureteral reflux ("VUR") in children and was CE-marked and approved for marketing in December 1998. VUR is an anomaly of the urinary tract wherein urine leaks from the urinary bladder back into the kidneys via the ureter. VUR occurs in approximately one percent of all children. Deflux was also recently CE-marked and approved for marketing for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women. Stress urinary incontinence is a common condition which primarily affects women. Fleming Aros is advisor to Q-Med in connection with the offering. For enquiries, please contact Per Olof Wallström, President and Chief Executive Officer, Tel: +46-18-474 90 00 or +46-70-974 90 70. This press release is not for distribution in the United States. No offer or invitation to acquire securities in Q-Med is being made now nor are offers being solicited. Any such offer or invitation will only be made in documents to be published in due course and any such acquisition should be made solely on the basis of information contained in such documents. No such securities will be offered or sold in the United States unless they are registered or exempt from registration under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Any public offering of securities to be made in the United States would be so registered or exempt and would be made by means of documentation containing detailed information about the company, its management as well as certain of its financial statements. Q-Med AB (publ) is not related to or affiliated with Q-Med, Inc., a Delaware corporation with its shares quoted on the NASDAQ SmallCap Market. Q-Med AB (publ), Seminariegatan 21, 752 28 Uppsala, Sweden Telephone: +46-18-474 90 00. Fax: +46-18-474 90 01. Org. nr. 556258-6882. ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/11/11/19991111BIT00420/bit0001.pdf http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/11/11/19991111BIT00420/bit0002.doc