OctoPlus N.V. (“OctoPlus” or the “Company”) (Euronext: OCTO), the drug delivery and development company, announces that today’s Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders has approved an extension of the period for preparation of the Company’s annual accounts for the year 2007 with a maximum of 6 months, until 30 November 2008.
On 28 March 2008, OctoPlus announced that it had obtained a bridge financing from existing shareholders to enable the Company to secure one or more of the longer term financing options currently under negotiation. These negotiations have not been completed yet. The Company had organised this Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders to obtain an extension of the period for preparation of the annual accounts for the year 2007. This extension allows the Company to prepare and provide its 2007 Annual Report to its shareholders no later than 30 November 2008, and also include the outcome of the ongoing negotiations in the 2007 Annual Report.
The Company reiterates its confidence to be able to complete the ongoing financing shortly. As soon as a final agreement has been reached, the preparation of the annual accounts for the year 2007 will be finalised and a date for the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will be announced.
For further information, please contact: Rianne Roukema, Corporate Communications: telephone number +31 (71) 524 1071, e-mail IR@octoplus.nl.
About OctoPlus OctoPlus N.V. is a product-oriented biopharmaceutical company committed to the creation of improved pharmaceutical products that are based on OctoPlus’ proprietary drug delivery technologies and have fewer side effects, improved patient convenience and a better efficacy/safety balance than existing therapies. Rather than seeking to discover novel drug candidates through early stage research activities, OctoPlus focuses on the development of long-acting, controlled-release versions of known protein therapeutics, other drugs, and vaccines.
OctoPlus’ pipeline consists of 5 products in pre-clinical and clinical development. The lead product is Locteron, a controlled-release formulation of interferon alfa for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, which the Company is co-developing with Biolex Therapeutics. Locteron is currently in Phase II clinical studies. Furthermore, the pipeline comprises a product candidate for the treatment of chronic middle ear infection, which is also in Phase II clinical studies, a pre-clinical GLP-1 analogue product candidate for the treatment of diabetes and two pre-clinical-stage single-shot vaccines.
In addition, OctoPlus is a European leading provider of advanced drug formulation and clinical scale manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, with a focus on difficult to formulate active pharmaceutical ingredients. The earnings and expertise that the Company derives from rendering formulation and manufacturing services help to support the Company’s own drug development programs.
OctoPlus is listed on Euronext Amsterdam by NYSE Euronext under the symbol OCTO. For more information about OctoPlus, please visit the website on www.octoplus.nl.
This document may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to the business, financial performance and results of OctoPlus N.V. and the industry in which it operates. These statements are based on OctoPlus N.V.'s current plans, estimates and projections, as well as its expectations of external conditions and events. In particular the words “expect”, “anticipate”, “predict”, “estimate”, “project”, “plan”, “may”, “should”, “would”, “will”, “intend”, “believe” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We caution investors that a number of important factors, and the inherent risks and uncertainties that such statements involve, could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. In the event of any inconsistency between an English version and a Dutch version of this document, the English version will prevail over the Dutch version.
