CryoLife Inc has acquired exclusive ownership of tissue engineering technology from Colorado State University Foundation (CSURF), the technology transfer affiliate of Colorado State University.

The ownership rights were acquired as part of the settlement of a lawsuit filed by CSURF in June 2001. The lawsuit involved a dispute over the amount of royalties payable to CSURF under a 1996 technology license agreement and over ownership of certain aspects of CryoLife's SynerGraft technology.

The settlement resolves all disputes between the parties and extinguishes all CSURF ownership claims to any aspect of CryoLife's SynerGraft technology. The settlement includes an unconditional assignment to CryoLife of CSURF tissue engineering patents, trade secrets and know-how relating to tissue decellularization and recellularization. The technology assignment supercedes the 1996 technology license, which was terminated by the terms of the settlement. Payment terms include a nonrefundable advance of $400,000 that will be applied to earned royalties as they accrue. The earned royalty rate is a maximum of 0.75% of net revenues from products utilizing the SynerGraft technology.

Steven G. Anderson, President and CEO, commented, "We think this settlement is good for both CryoLife and CSURF. CSURF obtains an advance payment and royalties while CryoLife obtains, at a favorable royalty rate, exclusive ownership of tissue engineering technology that relates to the SynerGraft product lines."