Hemosol and ProMetic Biosciences form Strategic Alliance for Production and Commercialization of Plasma-based Proteins
04 December 2003 - 11:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
Hemosol and ProMetic Biosciences form Strategic Alliance for
Production and Commercialization of Plasma-based Proteins TORONTO,
Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hemosol Inc. (TSX: HML, NASDAQ:
HMSL) today announced that it has forged the principle terms of a
strategic alliance with ProMetic Biosciences Ltd. a wholly owned
subsidiary of ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (TSX: PLI) that will
include Hemosol in-licensing the novel plasma separation technology
developed by ProMetic and its strategic partner, the American
National Red Cross ("American Red Cross"). Key elements of the
strategic alliance include: - Hemosol obtaining from ProMetic the
exclusive North American license for the novel cascade purification
process developed by ProMetic and the American Red Cross (the
"Cascade") to recover valuable proteins from human plasma; - The
implementation and optimisation of the Cascade at Hemosol's
state-of-the-art Meadowpine manufacturing facility in Mississauga,
Ontario; - The commitment in principle of the American Red Cross to
supply raw material to Hemosol for processing and the purchase from
Hemosol of specific therapeutic products isolated using the
Cascade; and - Co-ordinated business activity by Hemosol and
ProMetic to generate revenue for both Companies following the
successful implementation of the Cascade at the Meadowpine facility
by: - Providing clinical trial material to the American Red Cross
and other potential licensees of Cascade outside of North America;
and - developing markets for both therapeutic and non-therapeutic
plasma products produced by Hemosol employing the Cascade; and -
identifying, developing and exploiting commercial opportunities in
addition to those available from the use of Cascade. "This exciting
new opportunity to participate in the market for proven therapeutic
blood products with demonstrated demand, enhances and dovetails
with our ongoing development of oxygen therapeutics such as
HEMOLINK as well as our drug development pipeline," said Lee
Hartwell, Hemosol's President & CEO. "We believe that this
strategic alliance with ProMetic combined with the commitment in
principle of the American Red Cross, brings together the technology
and commercial relationships necessary to establish Hemosol as a
leading manufacturer of next-generation blood proteins and related
products". "The formation of this strategic alliance between
Hemosol and ProMetic is the ideal platform to exploit the
technology developed by the American Red Cross and ProMetic,"
stated Chris Lamb, Chief Operating Officer of the American Red
Cross Plasma Services. "In light of Hemosol's considerable
capabilities in this area, it is our goal to work closely with
Hemosol through the implementation and approval phase for the
Cascade and, once completed, to rely on Hemosol as a key supplier
for new and novel therapeutic protein requirements." The annual
market for proteins capable of being isolated using the Cascade was
approximately US $5.6 billion in 2002, this market is expected to
increase to US $6 billion in 2005(1). Hemosol is the first licensee
of this technology and will be its exclusive user to manufacture
products for sale into the North American market - the largest
single market for plasma-based proteins. Commercial sales of
therapeutic products manufactured by Cascade will require the
advance approval of the applicable regulatory agency in each
jurisdiction where sales are contemplated. The Cascade process was
developed under the existing strategic alliance between ProMetic
and the ARC that was formed in February, 2002. This novel process
integrates proven technologies to significantly improve the yield
and product recovery of valuable proteins isolated from human
plasma. Given the significantly improved yields and efficiency of
the Cascade process, the commercial driver underlying the
technology is its ability to potentially narrow the increasing gap
between the growing demand for these products and the inherent
limitations in traditional fractionation procedures. "This is a
true win-win alliance for all parties - the potentially paradigm
shifting and proven technology developed by ProMetic and the
American Red Cross will be paired with Hemosol's considerable
experience with blood products and state-of-the-art Meadowpine
facility," said Pierre Laurin, President & CEO, Prometic Life
Sciences. "Given the potential of the Cascade to dramatically
increase the yield of plasma derived next-generation therapeutic
proteins, we look forward to continuing to execute our strategy of
building a broad-based international network of licensees for this
important technology." In order to fix the principle commercial
terms of this strategic alliance, Hemosol and ProMetic have
executed a binding memorandum of understanding ("MoU"). As
consideration for entering into this binding MoU and the
commencement of implementation activities by the parties, Hemsol
has agreed to issue 2.0 million common shares to ProMetic, subject
to regulatory approval. Hemosol has also agreed to pay ProMetic a
staged license fee with an aggregate value of approximately $16.5
million, payable over approximately four years. Part of this fee
will be satisfied by the issuance to ProMetic of 1.0 million
Hemosol common shares, subject to the receipt of all regulatory
approvals, upon the execution of the definitive license agreement.
Hemosol will also pay a pre-determined royalty to ProMetic on the
sale of products isolated using the Cascade. In addition to
full-scale commercial production in North America, Hemosol is
positioned to secure supplementary revenues by supplying clinical
trial material to future Cascade licensees worldwide. The Company
plans to target this incremental revenue opportunity by leveraging
its early entrance into the market for Cascade-derived products as
well as its Meadowpine manufacturing facility. Access to clinical
material by subsequent licensees will be key to accelerating the
approval processes for these products with various national
regulators. Hemosol also continues to develop its core oxygen
therapeutic HEMOLINK(TM) (hemoglobin raffimer). The use of
Meadowpine to manufacture products under the agreement with
ProMetic will not interfere with current development programs. The
Company is advancing non-clinical analysis of HEMOLINK that
includes both in vitro and in vivo studies. Hemosol's goal is to
review progress in these studies with the U.S. Food & Drug
Administration in early 2004 with the aim of getting HEMOLINK off
clinical hold by the fourth quarter of next year. Conference Call
Hemosol, Prometic and the American Red Cross will host a conference
call to discuss this strategic alliance at 10 a.m. today, December
4, 2003. Participating on the call will be Messrs Lee Hartwell,
President & CEO Hemosol Inc., Pierre Laurin, President &
CEO ProMetic Life Sciences Ltd., and Chris Lamb, Chief Operating
Officer, American Red Cross Plasma Services. The dial-in numbers
for the conference call are 1-800-273-9672 or 416-695-5806
(reference No. 1508631). The call will be audio-cast live and
archived for 90 days at http://www.hemosol.com/,
http://www.prometic.com/ and http://www.financialdisclosure.ca/.
About ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. is a
world-scale biopharmaceutical company with headquarters in
Montreal, additional facilities in the U.K. and a marketing
presence in the U.S.A. ProMetic specializes in research,
development, manufacture and marketing of a variety of commercial
applications from its proprietary platform technologies, which are
used in the development of therapeutics, the elimination of
pathogens, proteomics and large-scale drug purification.
http://www.prometic.com/. About Hemosol Inc. Hemosol is a
biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and
manufacturing of biologics, particularly blood-related proteins.
The Company has a broad range of novel therapeutic products in
development, including HEMOLINK(TM) (hemoglobin raffimer), an
oxygen therapeutic designed to rapidly and safely improve oxygen
delivery via the circulatory system. Hemosol also is developing
additional oxygen therapeutics, a hemoglobin-based drug delivery
platform to treat diseases such as hepatitis C and cancers of the
liver, and a cell therapy program initially directed to the
treatment of cancer. Hemosol intends to leverage its expertise in
manufacturing blood proteins and its state-of-the-art Meadowpine
manufacturing facility to seek additional strategic growth
opportunities. http://www.hemosol.com/ Hemosol Inc.'s common shares
are listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market under the trading symbol
"HMSL" and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol
"HML". HEMOLINK is a registered trademark of Hemosol Inc. (1)
Market Bureau Research Inc. Certain statements concerning Hemosol's
future prospects are "forward- looking statements" under the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. There can
be no assurances that future results will be achieved, and actual
results could differ materially from forecasts and estimates.
Important factors that could cause Hemosol's actual results to
differ materially from forecasts and estimates include, but are not
limited to: the successful and timely completion of the preclinical
and clinical development of its products; Hemosol's ability to
obtain regulatory approvals for its products; Hemosol's ability to
manufacture or have manufactured its product in commercial
quantities and at competitive costs; the competitive environment
for therapeutic and non-therapeutic protein products derived from
human blood; the ability to obtain adequate funding under
acceptable terms to complete its development programs; and other
factors set forth in filings with Canadian securities regulatory
authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These
risks and uncertainties, as well as others, are discussed in
greater detail in the filings of Hemosol with Canadian securities
regulatory authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. Hemosol makes no commitment to revise or update any
forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or
circumstances after the date any such statement is made.
DATASOURCE: Hemosol Inc. CONTACT: Jason Hogan, Investor & Media
Relations, (416) 361-1331, 800-789-3419, (416) 815-0080 fax, ,
http://www.hemosol.com/; To request a free copy of this
organization's annual report, please go to http://www.newswire.ca/
and click on reports@cnw.
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