Smith & Nephew Completes Acquisition of the Assets of Nucryst Pharmaceuticals Corp.

HULL, England and FT. SASKATCHEWAN, Canada, Dec. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Advanced Wound Management division of Smith & Nephew plc ( NYSE: SNN) , announced today that its affiliates have completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Nucryst Pharmaceuticals Corp. ("Nucryst") (Nasdaq: NCST; TSX: NCS). The acquisition includes the manufacturing assets from Nucryst's Fort Saskatchewan, Canada operations and the intellectual property estate.

Since 2001, Smith & Nephew has held exclusive license for the sale of the ACTICOAT(TM) dressing portfolio, manufactured at the Ft. Saskatchewan site. This acquisition gives Advanced Wound Management full control over all the intellectual property rights, manufacturing and assets relating to the nanocrystalline silver technology that is incorporated in ACTICOAT, which is the second largest brand in the Smith & Nephew Advanced Wound Management product portfolio.

"The ACTICOAT dressings are the only products on the market using the proprietary antimicrobial nanocrystalline silver technology known as SILCRYST(TM). Acquiring this technology and the manufacturing capabilities behind it underlines our commitment to bring clinicians and patients the most advanced solutions for their wound care needs," said Roger Teasdale, President, Advanced Wound Management.

Enquiries Investors Liz Hewitt Tel: [phone] Smith & Nephew Group Director Corporate Affairs Phil Cowdy Tel: [phone] Smith & Nephew Director - Investor Relations Other Inquiries Roger Teasdale Tel: [phone] President, Advanced Wound Management Media Jon Coles Tel: [phone] Brunswick - London Katie Cralle Tel: [phone] Brunswick - New York About Us

Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business, specialising in Orthopaedics, including Reconstruction, Trauma and Clinical Therapies; Endoscopy and Advanced Wound Management. Smith & Nephew is a global leader in arthroscopy and advanced wound management and is one of the leading global orthopaedics companies.

Smith & Nephew is dedicated to helping improve people's lives. The Company prides itself on the strength of its relationships with its surgeons and professional healthcare customers, with whom its name is synonymous with high standards of performance, innovation and trust. The Company operates in 32 countries around the world. Annual sales in 2008 were nearly $3.8 billion.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In particular, statements regarding expected revenue growth and trading margins discussed under "Outlook" are forward-looking statements as are discussions of our product pipeline. These statements, as well as the phrases "aim", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "well-placed", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target", "consider" and similar expressions, are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors (including, but not limited to, the outcome of litigation, claims and regulatory approvals) that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Smith & Nephew, or industry results, to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. 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 20F, for a discussion of certain of these factors.

All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Smith & Nephew as of the date hereof. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Smith & Nephew or any person acting on behalf of Smith & Nephew are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing. Smith & Nephew does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Smith & Nephew's expectation with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

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CONTACT: Investors: Liz Hewitt, Group Director Corporate Affairs, Smith
& Nephew, [phone], or Phil Cowdy, Director - Investor Relations,
Smith & Nephew, [phone]; Other Inquiries: Roger Teasdale,
President, Advanced Wound Management, [phone]; Media: Jon Coles,
Brunswick - London, [phone], or Katie Cralle, Brunswick - New
York, [phone]