Nov 11 2004
Inion today announces its intention to proceed with an Initial Public Offering of shares and to seek a primary listing on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority. Inion is a rapidly-growing medical device company that focuses on the development and commercialisation of novel biodegradable implants for the orthopaedic fixation market. Inion has developed a range of products, based on a family of proprietary polymer blends, that are designed to provide a number of advantages over existing predominantly metal implants which either need to be left in place permanently, or removed via costly follow-up surgery. The Company is also developing a new generation of implants that are designed to promote faster bone healing. Initial in vivo studies have indicated that in the research model used, bone healing times can be significantly reduced using Inion’s technology compared to implants with no bioactivity.
The Company, which is based in Tampere, Finland, has grown rapidly since its incorporation in early 2000 and achieved revenues of €2.4 million (c. £1.7 million) in the six months ended 30 June 2004, an increase of more than 200 per cent. over the same period in 2003. Inion launched its first product in 2001 and its implants are currently marketed in more than 35 countries. Over the last 15 months, the Company has entered into two distribution agreements with Stryker, one of the world’s leading orthopaedic product companies, and also has a distribution agreement in place with the Aesculap division of B Braun, one of Europe’s largest surgical device companies. In all cases, Inion’s key products are sold under Inion brand names.
Inion is seeking to raise gross proceeds of approximately £30 million (c. €43 million) through a placing of ordinary shares to institutional investors in Europe and certain other jurisdictions. The indicative price range has been set at 113 pence to 136 pence per share corresponding to a post-money market capitalisation for the company of £80-90 million (c. €114-129 million) assuming gross proceeds from the placing of £30 million. The placing is expected to be completed by early December 2004. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the placing for investment in continued product development, including its bioactive technology, expanding its manufacturing capacity, working capital and general corporate purposes.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr Auvo Kaikkonen, Chief Executive Officer of Inion, said:
“In the five years since foundation, we have already established a growing portfolio of products in 4 treatment areas and a network of distributors in key markets promoting Inion-branded products around the world. Over the next 12 months, we anticipate entering into additional significant distribution agreements for our existing products. We will also continue to invest in the development of new products in our existing treatment areas and expect to enter 2 new treatment areas over the next 18 months.
We believe that biodegradable implants offer a number of clear benefits over existing metal products in many areas of the orthopaedic fixation market. In addition, we believe that our bioactive implant technology has the potential to offer significant benefits to patients and surgeons in the future. We are confident that Inion is well positioned to play a significant role in the future of the biodegradable implants market.”
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