ST. PETERSBURG, Florida, January 15 /PRNewswire/ --

Smith Nephew's Advanced Wound Management division (LSE: SN; NYSE: SNN) announced that on Tuesday, the Specialist Patents Court in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales granted Kinetic Concepts, Inc (NYSE: KCI) a temporary injunction prohibiting Smith Nephew from commercializing foam dressing kits for negative pressure wound therapy in the United Kingdom. The temporary injunction will remain in place until the court can rule on the patent infringement action that KCI filed in the United Kingdom against Smith Nephew in December 2008. An early trial date has been ordered for the next available court date after March 23, 2009 to be confirmed by the Court.

Smith Nephew and KCI have been engaged in litigation in the US in connection with KCI's intellectual property rights. As part of the legal process related to the US actions Smith Nephew has filed details of prior art with the US patent authorities. Smith Nephew takes all intellectual property rights seriously and takes such issues carefully into account before any new product launches.

Robin Carlstein, Senior Vice President of Advanced Wound Devices at Smith Nephew comments that, We are confident of our position in this lawsuit and look forward to presenting our submissions and evidence to the court. The present decision by the UK court does not apply to the United States or any markets outside of the United Kingdom. These recent developments have no impact on our ability to sell foam dressing kits in the United States, and will not impact any current or pending litigation between the companies in the US. We are committed to providing a strong and diverse product portfolio with which the clinician can exercise her or his own best judgment when tailoring negative pressure wound therapy for each patient.

For more information regarding Smith Nephew, please visit our Web site at www.smith-nephew.com

About Smith Nephew

Smith Nephew is a global medical technology business, specializing 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 2007 were nearly US$3.4 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.

Inquiries Investors Liz Hewitt +44-(0)20-7401-7646 Group Director Corporate Affairs Smith Nephew Other Inquiries Tom Dugan +1-727-399-3743 President, North America Smith Nephew Advanced Wound Management

Investors: Liz Hewitt, Group Director Corporate Affairs of Smith Nephew, +44-(0)20-7401-7646; or Tom Dugan President, North America, of Smith Nephew Advanced Wound Management, +1-727-399-3743