Move Sharpens Focus on Biopharmaceutical Business
ALACHUA, FL -- (Marketwired) – January 13, 2016 -- CTD Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: CTDH), a biotechnology company that develops cyclodextrin-based biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of disease, today announced that it plans to sell its specialty fine chemical business in order to focus exclusively on drug development.
CTD has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent to sell its specialty fine chemical manufacturing and distribution business to the company’s founder, C.E. Rick Strattan, in exchange for 7.5 million shares of CTD common stock, that Mr. Strattan holds, and the assumption by Mr. Strattan of certain liabilities related to the business.
The purchased assets will not include CTD’s real property. However, as part of the transaction, Mr. Strattan will lease CTD’s office and manufacturing facilities in Alachua, Florida, with an option to buy the facilities, which include a pulse dryer. Following the closing, Mr. Strattan intends to employ all workers of the specialty fine chemical business. CTD expects the transaction to close in the first quarter.
“Divesting the fine chemical business will allow us to focus our resources and efforts on the development of cyclodextrins as active pharmaceutical ingredients in drugs that treat critical diseases, and increase the value of the company for our stakeholders,” said CTD Chairman and CEO N. Scott Fine. “Our immediate priority is to continue developing our global clinical trial program for Trappsol(R) Cyclo(TM) to treat Niemann- Pick Type C disease, a rare and fatal genetic disease.”
CTD is working toward market approval of Trappsol(R) Cyclo(TM) (hydroxy-propyl-betacyclodextrin) as a treatment for Niemann-Pick Type C disease (NPC). The company’s clinical study, which expects to enroll patients in early 2016, will provide Trappsol(R) Cyclo(TM) intravenously to NPC patients two years of age and older in order to track biochemical markers of cholesterol metabolism and to measure effects on neurologic, lung and liver symptoms. NPC disease causes the build-up of cholesterol in every cell of the body, leading to cognitive and movement disorders, liver dysfunction, major organ failure and death.
About the Company:
CTD Holdings, Inc. is a biotechnology company that develops cyclodextrin-based products for the treatment of disease. The company’s Trappsol(R) Cyclo(TM), an orphan drug designated product in the United States and the EU, is used to treat Niemann-Pick Type C, a rare and fatal genetic disease. Additional indications for the active ingredient in Trappsol(R) Cyclo(TM) are in development. For additional information, visit the company’s website: www.ctd-holdings.com
