Smith & Nephew enters commercial agreement to bring robotic navigation to the JOURNEY UNI Knee procedure

LONDON, July 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN; LSE: SN), the global medical technology business, today announced a new commercial agreement with Blue Belt Technologies (BBT), makers of the Navio^® Orthopaedic Surgical System, the next generation of orthopaedic robotic surgical navigation. Under this agreement, surgeons using the Navio system will be able to implant Smith & Nephew's JOURNEY™ UNI partial knee.

"Combining the benefits of our JOURNEY UNI implant with the robotic precision offered by Navio is a very exciting prospect for us," says Scott Elliott, Senior Vice President, Orthopaedic Reconstruction for Smith & Nephew. "A concern with partial knees is that they can be difficult to align and balance. Thanks to this agreement, surgeons now have a navigation system that helps alleviate that surgical concern, as well as a partial knee that directly addresses implant durability."

The Navio System provides surgeons with precise surgical planning and handheld robotic-controlled bone preparation for use with partial knee replacements. Through its advanced, intraoperative navigation, the system guides the surgeon in optimally placing the implant and balancing the knee in order to deliver consistent results. And, from a cost-savings perspective, the Navio System does not require the added time and expense of preoperative CT images and is less than half the cost of its leading competitor.[i]

The JOURNEY UNI implant is an advanced alternative to total knee replacement for those patients whose osteoarthritis damage is limited to only one side of their knee. Unlike total knee replacement, this partial knee allows patients to keep all of their knee ligaments. Also, because it is made with Smith & Nephew's proprietary OXINIUM™ alloy, the JOURNEY UNI knee offers the potential for reduced implant wear – a leading cause of revision surgery.

Editor's Note:
Made of a zirconium alloy, OXINIUM implants undergo a manufacturing process during which the outer surface is transformed into a hard, smooth ceramic. This ceramicized metal surface is more than twice as resistant to scratching than is cobalt chrome.[ii] Scratching is an issue with knee implants because a scratched or "roughened" metal implant can more quickly wear down the plastic portion of the implant. When this happens, a second, revision surgery may be necessary.

About Smith & Nephew

Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business dedicated to helping healthcare professionals improve people's lives. With leadership positions in Orthopaedic Reconstruction, Advanced Wound Management, Sports Medicine and Trauma & Extremities, Smith & Nephew has around 11,000 employees and a presence in more than 90 countries. Annual sales in 2013 were more than $4.3 billion. Smith & Nephew is a member of the FTSE100 (LSE: SN, NYSE: SNN).

For more information about Smith & Nephew, please visit our corporate website www.smith-nephew.com, follow @SmithNephewplc on Twitter or visit SmithNephewplc on Facebook.com.

Forward-looking Statements
This document may contain forward-looking statements that may or may not prove accurate. For example, statements regarding expected revenue growth and trading margins, market trends and our product pipeline are forward-looking statements. Phrases such as "aim", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "well-placed", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target", "consider" and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied by the statements. For Smith & Nephew, these factors include: economic and financial conditions in the markets we serve, especially those affecting health care providers, payers and customers; price levels for established and innovative medical devices; developments in medical technology; regulatory approvals, reimbursement decisions or other government actions; product defects or recalls; litigation relating to patent or other claims; legal compliance risks and related investigative, remedial or enforcement actions; strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions, our success in performing due diligence, valuing and integrating acquired businesses; disruption that may result from transactions or other changes we make in our business plans or organisation to adapt to market developments; and numerous other matters that affect us or our markets, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or reputational nature. Please refer to the documents that Smith & Nephew has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including Smith & Nephew's most recent annual report on Form 20-F, for a discussion of certain of these factors. Any forward-looking statement is based on information available to Smith & Nephew as of the date of the statement. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Smith & Nephew are qualified by this caution. Smith & Nephew does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in circumstances or in Smith & Nephew's expectations.

^® Trademark of Smith & Nephew. Certain marks registered US Patent and Trademark Office.

[i] Eisner W, 2012

[ii] G. Hunter; J Dickinson; B Herb; R Graham; Journal of ASTM International, July/August 2005, Vol. 2, No. 7 Paper ID JAI12775 Available online at www.astm.org.

SOURCE Smith & Nephew

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