Athenex Announces Recent Business Developments Including The Acquisition Of Comprehensive Drug Enterprises

BUFFALO, N.Y. and HONG KONG, Dec. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Athenex, Inc. announces the closing of the acquisition of Comprehensive Drug Enterprises (CDE) based in Hong Kong's Science Park in a stock for stock transaction closed in July. The CDE platform includes a formulation research and development team based in Hong Kong and a Chongqing manufacturing plant in the Fengdu district of Chongqing, China. Jinn Wu, PhD, Athenex Board Director commented "The CDE platform was a logical acquisition for Athenex. Dr. Benjamin Lee and the rest of the CDE leadership team's capabilities were well known to us and we are excited about their future contributions to the Athenex global platform." Stephen Yeung, Athenex Chief Business Officer of Asia-Pacific Region, added "This acquisition accomplishes three important objectives for the Company. First, it adds much needed research scale in Hong Kong where the formulation expertise of the CDE team can be leveraged across our numerous product development efforts. Secondly, CDE has a portfolio of shorter cycle symptom therapeutic drug candidates we believe can add value to our current product pipeline. Finally, we will be able to leverage the CDE existing manufacturing joint venture and operations in Chongqing through our own existing China leadership team already in place in Chongqing."

The completion of the CDE acquisition represents the fourth company in less than 12 months that have agreed to join the Athenex family of companies. Flint Besecker, Athenex Chief Operating Officer commented "Our operating platform in China and the U.S. will allow us to execute against the value chain from the exciting innovative medical technologies we are developing in oncology. We believe the combination of China's rapid advancement in medical technology coupled with the U.S.'s most trusted pharmaceutical manufacturing standards represents a unique value proposition for patients in both markets. We have positioned our platform to capture and execute against this market opportunity. Our greenfield sites under development in both continents will further allow us to create additional synergy to capture this business opportunity."

Athenex also announces the completion of a 4 for 1 common stock split and that over 80% of shareholders have thus far provided their written consent for the election to the Board of all of the nominees recommended by the Athenex Board's Governance Committee. Newly elected Board members include: the Right Honourable Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada who will serve as the lead independent Director, Dr. Manson Fok, an active physician, award winning humanitarian and health policy advisor in Asia, and Song-Yi Zhang, founder of Mandra Capital and an active technology investor in China and the U.S.. In addition, Dr. Jinn Wu, Dr. Johnson Lau and Flint Besecker were also re-elected to the Board. Dr. Johnson Lau, Board Chairman and CEO commented "We are privileged to have such esteemed professionals serve our shareholders as Directors. Their tremendous global and governance experience will help guide our thinking for the benefit of our key stakeholders. I also want to thank our newest strategic advisors, Mr. Huateng Ma (Pony Ma) and Mr. Antony Leung of Nan Fung Group for their recent insight and guidance. All of our Directors and advisors have helped shape our thinking as we endeavor to improve the lives of cancer patients through innovative medical technology."

About Athenex, Inc.

Founded in 2003, Athenex is a global specialty oncology pharmaceutical company dedicated to delivering innovative drugs that can have a life-changing impact on cancer patients. We are developing numerous innovative oncology products across three platform technologies; Oral absorption, kinase inhibitors and symptom therapeutics. In addition to our existing products on the market, our clinical pipeline includes several late stage product candidates. To support our bridge between the U.S. and China markets and the launching of our clinical pipeline, we have numerous companies that are part of our family. Through this connected innovation and manufacturing supply chain presence, we can identify, develop and deliver proprietary medical technology across continents and multiple regulatory environments. We have offices throughout the U.S. and China.

For more information, please visit www.Athenex.com
For Athenex inquiries please contact:
Athenex
1001 Main Street
Suite 600
Buffalo, New York 14203
info@athenex.com

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SOURCE Athenex