Lombard Medical Technologies PLC Intellectual Property Update (7260Q)

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RNS Number : 7260Q

Lombard Medical Technologies PLC

17 October 2013

Lombard Medical Technologies PLC

("Lombard Medical" or the "Company")

Intellectual Property Update

Lombard Medical Signs License Agreement with Medtronic

London, UK and Irvine, CA, 17 October 2013 - Lombard Medical Technologies PLC (AIM: LMT), the specialist medical device company focused on the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), today announces it has entered into a mutually beneficial licensing agreement with Medtronic Inc.

Under the terms of the agreement, Lombard Medical has been granted a non-exclusive license by Medtronic to the US patent No. 6,306,141 ('141 or "Jervis" patent). Consequently, the Company will formally request a withdrawal of its petition to review the validity of the patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding the '141 patent, (see 7 May 2013 Press Release). Other terms of the licensing agreement have not been disclosed.

Commenting on the licensing agreement, Simon Hubbert, Chief Executive of Lombard Medical, said: "The signing of this licensing agreement, the terms of which are advantageous to both parties, will allow Lombard Medical to focus our resources on the US launch of Aorfix(TM). While we do not believe that the Company infringes the '141 patent or any other Medtronic patent, we are keen to avoid potentially protracted and distracting IP discussions with a large and well-resourced company such as Medtronic."

Following receipt of US FDA approval earlier this year demand for our unique AAA stent graph continues to grow. The Aorfix physician training program has resulted in well over a hundred clinicians being trained and a number of Aorfix procedures have already been successfully completed in the US. The Company is also experiencing growing sales in Europe and anticipates regulatory approval for Aorfix in Japan in H1 2014. To meet this increasing demand the Company recently announced plans to expand its facilities in Didcot, Oxfordshire.

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For further information:

 
 Lombard Medical Technologies PLC         Tel: [phone] 
                                           800 
 Simon Hubbert, Chief Executive Officer 
  Ian Ardill, Chief Financial Officer 
 
 Canaccord Genuity Limited                Tel: [phone] 
  Lucy Tilley / Tim Redfern / Henry 
  Fitzgerald O'Connor / 
  Dr Julian Feneley 
 
 FTI Consulting                           Tel: [phone] 
  Simon Conway / Stephanie Cuthbert 
  / Victoria Foster Mitchell 
 
 Allen & Caron                              Tel: [phone] 
  Matt Clawson 
 
 

About Lombard Medical

Lombard Medical Technologies PLC (AIM: LMT) is a medical device company focused on device solutions for the $1.3 billion per annum AAA repair market. The Company's lead product, Aorfix, is an endovascular stent graft which has been specifically designed to solve the problems that exist in treating complex tortuous anatomy, which is often present in advanced AAA disease. Aorfix is the only stent graft approved for AAA neck angulations of up to 90 degrees and is currently being commercialized worldwide. Aorfix is the first AAA stent graft not of U.S. origin to gain FDA approval. The Company is headquartered in Oxfordshire, England with U.S. operations in Irvine, CA.

Further background on the Company can be found at www.lombardmedical.com.

Aorfix Commercialisation

In February 2013 Lombard Medical received FDA ("Food and Drug Administration") approval to treat AAAs, the only device with a label indication for the treatment of patients with angulations at the neck (top) of the aneurysm of up to 90 degrees. This gives Aorfix the broadest label for such a device on the US market and makes it the only endovascular stent graft approved for use in high angle (>60 degrees) cases. In Japan, Lombard Medical's exclusive distribution partner, Medico's Hirata Inc., remains in dialogue with the Japanese PMDA ("Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency") to achieve regulatory approval for Aorfix, expected in H1 2014.

About Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

AAAs are a balloon-like enlargement of the aorta which, if left untreated, may rupture and cause death. Approximately 4.5 million people are living with AAAs in the developed world and each year 600,000 new cases are diagnosed. In the U.S. aortic aneurysm disease is among the leading cause of death and it is estimated that 1.7 million people over the age of 55 have an AAA. The market for the repair of AAAs in the U.S. is valued at more than $600 million annually, and is forecast to grow to $1.6 billion worldwide by 2015 according to independent market research.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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