LA JOLLA, Calif., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc.
(Nasdaq: ATIS) and Inamed Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: IMDC) announced
today that Inamed has acquired license rights for human collagen from Advanced
Tissue Sciences for wrinkle and cosmetic correction and as a bulking agent for
the treatment of urinary incontinence. In connection with the acquisition of
these licensing rights, Advanced Tissue Sciences received an additional $4
million, including $2 million for licensing rights and $2 million for Inamed's
purchase of Advanced Tissue Sciences' common stock at a premium to market.
This license is part of the strategic alliance formed by the companies in
May 1999 for the development and marketing of certain of Advanced Tissue
Sciences' human-based, tissue-engineered products for aesthetic, urological
and certain reconstructive applications. Including the amounts related to the
acquisition of additional licensing rights and $5 million previously received,
Advanced Tissue Sciences could receive $20 million in total in up-front and
milestone payments and from the sale of Advanced Tissue Sciences' common stock
to Inamed at a premium to market, plus royalties on sales. With this
expansion of the licensing agreement, Inamed will also receive a five-year
warrant to purchase up to an additional 200,000 shares of Advanced Tissue
Sciences' common stock at a premium to the current trading price.
"The goal of our strategic alliance with Inamed is to expand our products
into the cosmetic, urological and reconstructive surgery markets," said Arthur
J. Benvenuto, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Tissue
Sciences. "We believe that our human collagen may offer improvements over the
bovine and cadaveric products currently available."
Richard G. Babbitt, Inamed's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated,
"With Inamed's acquisition of Collagen Aesthetics, Inc. now completed, we are
moving toward developing commercial applications from Advanced Tissue
Sciences' human collagen technology. We are very excited about the
opportunities that are now possible under the terms of the strategic
alliance."
Under the strategic alliance agreement, Advanced Tissue Sciences is
responsible for the development of products, including human extracellular
matrix with collagen and cartilage for facial reconstruction, and the related
manufacturing processes, while Inamed will be responsible for clinical and
regulatory activities. Advanced Tissue Sciences will have the right to
manufacture the products developed under the agreement. Inamed has agreed to
hold its investment in Advanced Tissue Sciences' common stock until at least
October 2002.
Advanced Tissue Sciences is a tissue engineering company utilizing its
proprietary core technology to develop and manufacture human-based tissue
products for tissue repair and transplantation. The Company has two joint
ventures with Smith & Nephew. The first covers the application of Advanced
Tissue Sciences' tissue engineering technology for skin wounds and includes
Dermagraft(R) for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, TransCyte(TM) for the
temporary covering of second and third-degree burns and future developments
for venous ulcers, pressure ulcers, burns and other non-aesthetic wound care
treatments. The second joint venture is developing tissue-engineered
orthopedic cartilage, initially focusing on the repair of cartilage in knee
joints. In addition, the Company is developing products for cardiovascular
applications.
Inamed Corporation is a global surgical and medical device company engaged
in the development, manufacturing and marketing of medical devices for
aesthetic medicine, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and the treatment of
obesity.
The discussion contained in this press release relating to research,
development, or commercialization of products involves certain risks and
uncertainties. The Company or Inamed may not successfully develop any further
products, complete any required clinical trials, the clinical trials may not
be completed within any specific timeframe or the data from such trials may
not be statistically significant. The Company or Inamed may not obtain FDA or
other required regulatory approvals of any products at all or on a timely
basis, scale up manufacturing processes, or successfully commercialize any
such products. These and other risks are detailed in publicly available
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission such as Advanced Tissue
Sciences' and Inamed Corporation's respective Annual Reports on Form 10-K for
the year ended December 31, 1998 and Advanced Tissue Sciences' most recent
Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed on July 12, 1999, as amended. Actual
results may differ materially from those currently anticipated as a result of
such risks.
SOURCE Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc.
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800-758-5804, ext. 532975
CONTACT:
Beth A. Kriegel, Senior Director, Financial
Planning & Analysis of Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc.,
858-713-7991; or Ilan Reich, President, or Michael Doty, Chief
Financial Officer of INAMED Corporation, 805-692-5400
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