Vitrolife enters co-operation agreement with Millenium Biologix inc.

VITROLIFE ENTERS CO-OPERATION AGREEMENT WITH MILLENIUM BIOLOGIX INC. Vitrolife has signed an agreement with Millenium Biologix Inc., a private corporation with headquarters in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, concerning the development and testing of Vitrolife's proprietary culture media for use in human tissue engineering, particularly cartilage and bone. Vitrolife has expertise in the field of specialist media for cell culture; particularly for in vitro fertilization applications; and is expanding this core competence into the wider field of human tissue engineering. Millenium has expertise in the field of skeletal cell culture and tissue engineering with synthetic biomaterials, growth factors, bioreactors and instrumentation and seeks preferred access to high quality proprietary media for human in vitro tissue engineering applications in its field. This initial agreement is being entered into to cover a period of comprehensive testing and evaluation of candidate media produced by Vitrolife, based on current cartilage and bone cell and tissue culture models established by Millenium. Following successful evaluations and the anticipated development of advanced media for skeletal tissue engineering applications, it is anticipated that the two companies will enter into a further global commercialization agreement. This subsequent agreement will acknowledge Vitrolife's continuing role as developer and exclusive producer of proprietary media for Millenium and may also include a wider manufacturing role for Vitrolife in connection with Millenium's Total System for Tissue Engineering, the cartilage version of which is known as Cartilogic. "Millenium and Vitrolife have one especially powerful thing in common. Each is fully committed to being the global standard setter in its field of expertise. With the advances in patient care that we will bring through our unique system for hospital based autologous tissue engineering comes an urgent need for new, advanced culture media., which is not only innovative but manufactured to the highest standards of quality and reproducibility. Vitrolife´s high quality media is the most advanced media we have seen by far, and this exciting collaboration between our two companies is going to change the orthopedics industry and lead to significantly improved outcomes and long term quality of life for patients." said Mr. Sydney Pugh, President and CEO of Millenium Biologix Inc. "The collaboration agreement between Vitrolife and Millenium represents an important first step for two, within their respective fields, world leading companies. The treatment systems in development will provide the health care sector with medical devices having unique treatment benefits. Vitrolife's commitment to superior quality human cell culture media makes us a preferred supplier to companies like Millenium, which is in line with our growth strategy into new emerging fields in cell and tissue technology", said Dr. Peter Svalander, President and CEO of Vitrolife AB. "Human tissue engineering requires the most advanced media possible to manufacture regarding efficacy, safety and quality, which is Vitrolife's focus. It is particularly promising that we now have the opportunity to apply our competence in existing therapies such as cartilage and bone repair" said Dr. Johan Hyllner, Director of Business Area Cell Therapy and Tissue Engineering Systems within Vitrolife AB. Göteborg, 28th of August 2001. Vitrolife AB (publ) For further information, please contact: Vitrolife AB: President and CEO Dr. Peter Svalander, tel +46-31-7218001 www.vitrolife.com Millenium Biologix Inc.: President and CEO Mr. Sydney Pugh, tel +1-613- 389-6565 www.millenium-biologix.com Vitrolife Vitrolife's business mission is to develop, produce and sell advanced products and systems for the preparation, cultivation, preservation and support of cells, tissues and organs. Vitrolife intends to further expand the Company's production capacity to meet an expected increase in demand for its products, as well as strengthen its global market position as a leading company in the development of innovative cell and tissue technologies. Vitrolife believes that the number of procedures performed annually involving tissue and cell technologies will increase as new treatments are introduced and existing treatments are improved. In addition, Vitrolife expects that the regulation surrounding approval processes and quality control for its products will increase. Vitrolife aims to create competitive advantages from this regulation by meeting and exceeding expected future demands of regulatory authorities, ahead of the Company's competitors. Since it commenced its operations in 1993, Vitrolife has expanded rapidly. The Company currently has over 90 employees and sells its products in over 80 countries. During the latest five-year period, sales have increased by an average of 33 percent and totalled more than SEK 82 million for the fiscal year 2000. The Vitrolife share is listed on the Stockholm Exchange (Stockholmsbörsen) O-list under the ticker VITR. Millenium Biologix Inc. Millenium Biologix is a privately held biomedical device and skeletal tissue engineering company focused on development and global commercialization of products in three distinct growth segments of the orthopedic industry R&D Tools - Orthopedic Clinical Products - Clinical Tissue Engineering Systems Based on a suite of proprietary technologies and know-how linking advanced materials, biology and engineering, Millenium's biological products, medical devices and tissue engineering systems are state-of- the-art solutions aimed at major growth opportunities in orthopedics. These range from sports medicine and trauma, to the increasingly challenging skeletal tissue repair and replacement needs of an aging population. Since the start of operations in 1993, an expanding range of R&D products has been successfully brought to market worldwide through Millenium's partnership with Becton Dickinson, (BD Biosciences). Company growth continues at a fast pace with revenues more than doubling in each of the past two years, supported by internal R&D and manufacturing carried out at facilities in Canada and Switzerland. With the imminent launch of clinical products, and an expanding portfolio of synergistic technologies and new international partnerships, the company is poised for major new growth and corporate development. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/08/28/20010828BIT00700/bit0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/08/28/20010828BIT00700/bit0001.pdf