Vigmed receives Notice of Allowance from US Patent Office

Swedish Medical Device Company Vigmed has developed a family of unique needle protected sharps products in response to the new EU Directive on Sharps Safety. The EU Directive means that all sharp medical devices within healthcare should be equipped with integrated safety mechanisms which prevent sharps injuries, from May 2013. The US Patent Office (USPTO) has now given the company approval for a US Patent for IV Catheters (VIGMED CLiP®). The patent is Vigmed's first US Patent and is particularly important as the intellectual property that is protected can be applied to other products in development. VIGMED CLiP is a unique self- activating and automatic needle protection for IV catheters which protects the patient as well as staff against accidental and potentially contaminated needle stick injury. The product, which is part of a whole family of products developed by Helsingborg based Vigmed, is extremely user friendly and safe, as well as being cost effective. The response to Vigmed's products from users as well as distributors within and outside Europe has been very positive and expectations prior to market introduction are high. Vigmed works proactively with patent applications with the aim of protecting their unique products from being copied. With regard to VIGMED CLiP the company has previously been granted a European and a separate Swedish Patent and Chinese Utility Model and now the USPTO has informed Vigmed that they will grant a US Patent related to VIGMED CLiP. The company's intellectual property experts judge that this new patent, together with the previously approved European and separate Swedish patent, gives the company strong protection for the components of the catheter system developed by Vigmed. Vigmed has so far submitted approximately 50 patent applications, divided into more than 10 patent families. Patents have already been approved for several of the company's applications. Vigmed owns their patents and patent applications without restriction. The first patent application was submitted in late summer 2009. The foundation patents and patent applications all have priority dates from the period 2009 to 2013, which means they have almost maximum patent life. For simplicity the patents and submissions can be divided into 5 usage areas (1) infusion (CLiP), (2) injection (SWiNG), (3) blood sampling (STiC) as well as two further areas, that for competitive reasons, Vigmed will not make public for the time being. The strategy is to protect Vigmed's technology and products in all geographical markets that are judged to be significant. Vigmed intends to increase their patent portfolio continuously with both offensive and defensive patents and Utility Models. For further information contact: Chairman of the Board Lennart Holm ( 46 70-630 8562) or CEO Finn Ketler ( 46 42 600 5311). Please feel free to visit the company’s new website at www.vigmed.com Vigmed is a Swedish medical technology company whose mission is to eliminate needlestick injuries by offering the market unique needle-protected products. Vigmed is headquartered in Helsingborg, Sweden, and has approximately 15 employees. Vigmed’s share is traded on NASDAQ OMX First North in Stockholm (ticker VIG) and has approximately 5 400 shareholders. Remium Nordic AB is the Company’s Certified Advisor. Additional information such as company description, a video presentation and risk factors can be found on Vigmed’s website: www.vigmed.com/investor