Stéphane Thiroloix Appointed President, Europe for Smith & Nephew ASD Division

LONDON, October 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Smith & Nephew plc (LSE: SN, NYSE: SNN), the global medical technology business, today announced the appointment of Stéphane Thiroloix to the position of President, Europe Advanced Surgical Devices Division (ASD). He will be based in Baar, Switzerland and will report to Mike Frazzette, President, ASD, and will serve as a member of the Division's Executive Team.

Stéphane will be responsible for leading and directing all commercial activities in ASD's European markets focused on the Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine product portfolios.

Stéphane graduated from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) in France in 1986. After joining Roussel Uclaf (which became Hoechst Marion Roussel, then Aventis and now Sanofi), he held various executive positions in France, South Africa, Mexico and Australia, ultimately as General Manager. He later joined SmithKline Beecham as VP and Sales Director of French Operations, and moved on to become VP and Director of Operations, and ultimately VP of European Business Development and Marketing Alliances within GlaxoSmithKline. He joined Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2002 as VP of French Operations and was promoted to VP Europe and General Manager France in 2004. Until recently, he was Executive VP of Corporate Development at Ipsen, a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in France.

"We're excited to have Stéphane join our European team," Frazzette stated. "His operational experience and commercial- and customer-focused approach will enable Smith & Nephew to better serve the needs of our diverse customer base and develop competitive advantages for our business."

About Smith & Nephew

Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business with global leadership positions in Orthopaedic Reconstruction, Advanced Wound Management, Sports Medicine, Trauma and Clinical Therapies. The Company has distribution channels, purchasing agents and buying entities in over 90 countries worldwide. Annual sales in 2010 were nearly $4.0 billion.

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.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In particular, statements regarding planned growth in our business and in our operating 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 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.