SAN FRANCISCO and GENEVA, April 7, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amarantus BioScience Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:AMBS), a biotechnology company focused on developing diagnostics in neurology, and therapeutic products in the areas of neurology, psychiatry, ophthalmology and orphan diseases, announced financial results for the year ended December 31, 2014. The Company also highlighted recent corporate and clinical development achievements, as well as upcoming milestones for its Diagnostics division and Therapeutics division.
“The advancements made throughout the course of 2014 and early 2015 in executing our strategy of assembling clinically de-risked and significantly undervalued diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities for the Company’s two divisions has yielded a tremendous platform for growth going forward,” said Gerald E. Commissiong, President & CEO of Amarantus.
RECENT CORPORATE HIGHLIGHTS
- Appointed renowned drug development expert and co-founder of Amgen, Joseph Rubinfeld, Ph.D., to the Board of Directors;
- Appointed Elise Brownell, Ph.D., to the newly created position of Senior Vice President of Operations and Program Management;
- Completed two non-convertible debenture transactions which raised a total of $2.85 million;
- Completed multiple closings of a Series E preferred stock financing to raise $7.25 million; and
- Modified the terms of the Series E preferred stock to adjust the conversion price to $0.05 (representing a ~2% discount to market as of the date of adjustment), delay any further potential downward adjustment in the conversion price to October 1, 2015, and inserted a provision for a Mandatory Conversion of the Series E preferred stock into common shares upon a Qualified Public Offering of the Company’s stock.
DIAGNOSTICS DIVISION OVERVIEW
“We crystalized our corporate development strategy in our Diagnostics division with the synergistic acquisition of multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnostics company, Diogenix, Inc. The lead asset acquired, MSPrecise®, recently completed a clinical validation study with strong results, paving the way for its potential introduction into the commercial marketplace in the fourth quarter of this year. LymPro Test®, our Investigational Use Only (IUO) Alzheimer’s diagnostic blood test that was commercialized in late 2014, garnered its first pharmaceutical customer in the first quarter of 2015, as the interest in trials of experimental Alzheimer’s therapies is beginning to increase with high-profile successes renewing hope for the field. We have established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Amarantus Diagnostics, Inc., to house MSPrecise and LymPro and are now evaluating CEO candidates to drive this division forward. We are also currently evaluating strategic options for Amarantus Diagnostics that will allow it to exercise the exclusive option agreement with Georgetown University, and strengthen its position as a leading Alzheimer’s diagnostic blood test company, in addition to its emerging leading position in the area of MS diagnostics,” stated Robert Farrell, CFO of Amarantus.
Recent Highlights
- Retained an executive search firm to identify a Chief Executive Officer for the Diagnostics division;
- Retained Ravi Kiron, Ph.D., a co-founder in C2N and the former Chief Business Officer at Kinemed, Inc., to serve as Senior Vice President of Business Development;
- Promoted Colin Bier, Ph.D., to Chief Development Officer to oversee the commercialization of the Company’s assays under CLIA;
- Retained a consulting firm specialized in the sale of tax credits, to market the $7.5 million of New Jersey tax credits obtained in the Diogenix acquisition; and
- Established an Alzheimer’s disease (AD) Diagnostics Scientific Advisory Board with three internationally-renowned AD and neurological disorder specialists, Paula T. Trzepacz, M.D., Jeffrey L. Cummings, M.D., Sc.D., and Robert A. Stern, Ph.D.
- LymPro Test® for the diagnosis of AD
- Presented positive LymPro data at the 12th International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and Related Neurological Disorders;
- Established the Company’s first Investigational Use Only (IUO) Alzheimer’s biomarker services collaboration for LymPro Test with Anavex Life Sciences Corp. to evaluate blood samples from AD patients;
- Entered into a Letter of Intent with Anavex to plan additional scope of further biomarker services for its potential Phase 3 AD clinical trial; and
- Announced the availability of LymPro Test biomarker services for use by the pharmaceutical industry for IUO.
- MSPrecise® for the diagnosis of MS
- Acquired MS diagnostics company Diogenix, Inc.; and
- Completed integration of Diogenix into Amarantus Diagnostics corporate infrastructure.
- Georgetown Assays for the diagnosis of AD
- Entered into a one-year, exclusive option agreement with Georgetown University to license patent rights for blood based biomarkers for AD and memory loss.
THERAPEUTICS DIVISION OVERVIEW
David A. Lowe, Ph.D., member of the Amarantus Board Directors, commented, “The Therapeutics division is now positioned for significant growth. We spent considerable time and resources revitalizing the eltoprazine development program following our in-licensing of this product candidate in early 2014. Today, we are poised to initiate a mid-stage clinical development program of eltoprazine after the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently allowed the Company’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application to proceed into a Phase 2b program for Parkinson’s disease levodopa induced dyskinesia (PD LID). Eltoprazine has a strong safety profile, having been dosed in over 680 human subjects for periods of more than two years, at doses several fold higher than our anticipated dosing regimens going forward. In addition, eltoprazine already has positive Phase 2a data in PD LID, which was recently published, positive Phase 2 data in an adult attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (adult ADHD) clinical study, as well as significant proof-of-concept clinical data generated by its original owner, Solvay Pharmaceuticals, in the area of aggression associated with AD. We also succeeded in our orphan regulatory strategy for MANF by receiving an orphan drug designation for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), which now allows the Company to shepherd MANF’s development towards first-in-man studies.”
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