(“Inion or the “Company”)

 Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2008

Tampere, Finland and Guildford, UK. 30 April 2009, Inion (LSE: IIN.L), a company focused on the development and commercialisation of novel biodegradable medical implants, today announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2008.

           Significant recent events in 2009

 ·       During Q1 09, Inion continued to evaluate a range of options aimed at ensuring it has sufficient funding to enable it to continue with its current strategy. However, whilst it has been able to obtain indicative commitments from a number of investors, in light of prevailing equity market conditions the Company has not been able to secure a sufficient level of funding. Discussions are continuing with a number of parties in relation to other strategic transactions or divestment of certain assets to raise additional funding.

 ·       The Directors have concluded that the combination of these circumstances represents a material uncertainty that casts significant doubt upon the Group’s and the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern and as the Company has recently announced, the Directors will continue (i) to approach potential investors and/or buyers of the Company’s assets or (ii), failing such additional investments/disposals, to facilitate an orderly liquidation of the Company. Nevertheless following the discussions referred to above, and after considering the uncertainties described, the Directors believe that they have a reasonable expectation that the Group and the Company have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For these reasons, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the annual report and accounts. However, until the outcomes of discussions with potential investors/buyers are known, there is considerable uncertainty over this basis of presentation.

 ·       Inion announced on 29 April 2009 that it intends to apply to cancel the listing of its Ordinary Shares on the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange’s market for listed securities.

 2008 Financial summary

 ·       Sales of €5.8 million in 2008 represent a 10% increase on 2007 sales of €5.2 million. The entire increase of approximately €0.6 million is due to new sales of Inion Spine and Speciality Orthopaedic products in the Company’s key US market.

 ·       Sales of Spine and Speciality Orthopaedics products in the US have grown from zero and accelerated rapidly in the second half of the year since Inion’s spinal graft containment systems gained US marketing clearance in July 2008.

 ·       Global sales in 2008 from Inion’s core Spine and Speciality Orthopaedics businesses are €3.3 million, an increase of 20% compared to €2.8 million in 2007. Sales of €2.4 million (2007: €2.3 million) from our Craniomaxillofacial (CMF) business account for almost all of the remainder

 ·       Underlying operating expenditure for the year of €12.2 million (before one-off costs) is down by €2.7 million or 18% on prior year (2007: €14.9 million) as the Company has continued to maintain a tight control over costs. Lower expenditure also resulted from the strategic review in 2007 which led to the scaling back of R&D activities in non-core areas including the closure of its Cambridge R&D facility.

 ·       Underlying loss before tax was €7.3 million (2007: €10.9 million) before one-off costs. Including one-off costs loss before tax was €13.6 million (2007: €12.3 million).

 ·       Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments at 31 December 2008 totalled €3.6 million

 ·       The Company has also implemented measures to reduce its overhead expenditure and headcount levels have been reduced to 20 from 83 at the end of 2008 to conserve its current cash resource. This has meant the suspension of certain activities within the business including manufacturing.

  2008 Operational Summary

 ·       Inion’s commercial operation developed well during 2008 particularly in its priority US market. Sales in this region grew rapidly in the second half of the year as a result of a more effective sales management team and improved distribution networks, dedicated training programme for sales teams and end-users, and the approval of important new products.

 ·       Inion received FDA 510(k) marketing clearance in July 2008 for its S-1™ and S-2™ spinal graft containment systems for spinal fusion procedures, completing its product offering for these applications. This major approval allowed the Company to accelerate commercial activities in the US spine market with a limited launch of these new products to high-volume and influential users at selected trial sites, with a full US launch of these products planned for 2009.

 ·       The encouraging progress made in the US has seen Inion begin to replicate its commercial model in its key markets within Europe and the Far East (Korea, Taiwan and Australia).

- Inion initiated a programme to register its full core product portfolio in China with a view to extending its commercial operations into this huge potential market.

 ·       First out-licensing agreement signed in August with US firm Curative Biosciences Inc. covering novel bioactive technology for promoting bone regrowth and repair when treating patients with broken bones. Inion received an undisclosed upfront payment on signing and could receive development and sales milestones of up to $2.025 million and royalties on future product sales.

 ·       Ian Paling, the former CEO of Corin Group PLC (LSE: CRG), was elected as Inion’s new Chairman in August 2008, replacing Dr Göran Ando, who stepped down from the Board.

 Ian Paling, Inion’s Chairman, said: “The past several months have been a very difficult period for Inion as we have tried unsuccessfully to raise the funds needed to support our business strategy. This is a very frustrating situation given the operational progress the Company has made in the last 12 months, particularly in the US. We are now exploring a range of options that will allow us to generate as much value as possible for our shareholders.”                                                                                                

-ends-

  For further information, please contact:

 Inion Oy

Chris Lee, Chief Executive Officer

Julien Cotta, Chief Financial Officer

Tel: +44 (0)1483 685390

 Citigate Dewe Rogerson

Mark Swallow / Helena Galilee / David Dible         

Tel: +44 (0)207 638 9571

 About Inion (www.inion.com)

 Inion Oy is a medical devices company focused on the development and successful commercialisation of innovative and unique biodegradable and bioactive surgical implants in selected high value orthopaedic market segments.

 Inion's core expertise and technology lies in the design and manufacture of innovative biodegradable plates, screws, pins and membranes, which are used to enhance the healing of bone or soft tissue injuries to the skeleton, such as those caused by trauma or by reconstructive surgery. Inion implants are made from its proprietary Inion family of biomaterials, with properties tailored for specific surgical applications, in terms of strength, flexibility and rate of degradation

 Inion is also focused on developing proprietary new bioactive and biodegradable biomaterials that promote bone healing and accelerate patient rehabilitation.

 Inion was incorporated in early 2000 and listed on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority in December 2004 (ticker: IIN). The Company has offices in the UK and US, and its head office, R&D and production facilities are in Tampere, Finland.

 This announcement includes "forward-looking statements" which include all statements other than statements of historical facts, including, without limitation, those regarding the Group's financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations (including development plans and objectives relating to the Group's products), and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include forward-looking terminology such as the words "targets", "believes", "estimates", "expects", "aims", "intends", "will", "can", "may", "anticipates", "would", "should", "could" or similar expressions or the negative thereof. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors beyond the Group's control that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Group to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Group's present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Group will operate in the future. Among the important factors that could cause the Group's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include those relating to Inion's funding requirements, regulatory approvals, reliance on third parties, intellectual property, key personnel and other factors. These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement. The Group expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement to reflect any change in the Group's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. As a result of these factors, prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statement.

09_INI_10 Prelims FINAL.pdf (323.37 kilobytes)