Progress in IBEX transition to specialty pharma company
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (MARKET WIRE) -- April 17, 2007 -- IBEX Technologies Inc. (TSX: IBT), today announced that Garvinci Inc. (“Garvinci”), with whom it has entered into a merger agreement, has acquired rights to two additional arthritis device products for the Canadian market from TRB CHEMEDICA International, a Swiss based multinational pharmaceutical company. In February 2006 Garvinci launched in Canada the TRB CHEMEDICA product Ostenil®, an injectable visco-supplement product to relieve the symptomatic pain associated with osteoarthritis of the hip, shoulder and knee.
The new products include Ostenil®-Mini, a line extension of Ostenil for small joints, and Viscoseal®, a new injectable product for the management of pain following arthroscopy. Both products require the approval of Health Canada and the Company expects to submit for approval in the coming months.
Paul Baehr, President and Chief Executive Officer of IBEX, commented on the new developments: “The addition of two arthritis device products will advance the growth of the combined companies, and cements our strategy of becoming a specialty company in the Canadian marketplace.”
About Garvinci
Garvinci is a privately-held Canadian company focused on arthritis and women’s health. The Company was founded in 2001 by Jean-Francois Gareau, a Montreal entrepreneur.
Garvinci’s principal assets are the Canadian distribution rights to a line of arthritis products produced by the Swiss firm TRB Chemedica, and the Canadian distribution rights to NorLevo® from the French company, Laboratoire HRA Pharma.
NorLevo®, a morning-after emergency contraceptive pill has recently been approved and is expected to be introduced in the second half of 2007 through one of Canada’s leading pharmaceutical companies.
About TRB Chemedica
TRB CHEMEDICA is a family owned, multinational pharmaceutical group headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The Group has more than 25 years experience in the development and marketing of pharmaceutical products and is involved in research and development, manufacturing, registration, marketing and licensing. The therapeutic focus of the Group is rheumatology, ophthalmology and neurology.
TRB CHEMEDICA currently markets 15 products, both ethical pharmaceuticals and medical devices, that are licensed and sold in more than 40 countries worldwide. In addition to a number of innovative pharmaceutical compounds in key market segments, the Group has a long experience and a particular specialization in patented products based on sodium hyaluronate. The commitment to innovation is seen in the significant product pipeline that will help to fuel growth in each of the targeted therapeutic areas as well as introduce the group into new areas of therapeutic focus.
About IBEX
IBEX is transforming itself from a research and development company to a specialty pharmaceutical company with marketed products serving the arthritis and women’s health markets. To that end, on January 30, 2007, the Company announced the signing of a Share Purchase Agreement with Garvinci Inc., a private-held Canadian company with Canadian distribution rights for a pipeline of arthritis and women’s health products.
The closing of the transaction with Garvinci is subject to regulatory approval, including that of the Toronto Stock Exchange, shareholder approval, and the satisfaction of certain conditions by Garvinci. IBEX expects that the shareholders’ circular will be mailed at the beginning of May.
IBEX’s arthritis program is based on the discovery of a number of specific molecular biomarkers associated with collagen synthesis and degradation. These discoveries have led to the development of proprietary research tools and diagnostic tests which are being used by major pharmaceutical companies in the search for new drugs and which are being developed by IBEX for use in patient management.
IBEX currently markets a series of arthritis assays which are widely used in the pharmaceutical research market. The Company also markets a series of proprietary enzymes (heparinases and chondroitinases) for research use, as well Heparinase I which is used in many leading hemostasis monitoring devices. For more information, please visit the Company’s web site at www.ibex.ca.
Safe Harbor Statement
All of the statements contained in this news release, other than statements of fact that are independently verifiable at the date hereof, are forward-looking statements. Such statements, based as they are on the current expectations of management, inherently involve numerous risks and uncertainties, known and unknown. Some examples of known risks are: the impact of general economic conditions, general conditions in the pharmaceutical industry, changes in the regulatory environment in the jurisdictions in which IBEX does business, stock market volatility, fluctuations in costs, and changes to the competitive environment due to consolidation or otherwise. Consequently, actual future results may differ materially from the anticipated results expressed in the forward-looking statements. IBEX disclaims any intention or obligation to update these statements.
Contacts: IBEX Technologies Inc. Paul Baehr President & CEO 514-344-4004 514-344-8827 (FAX) Info@IBEX.ca
LaVoie Group Donna LaVoie 978-745-4200 ext. 103 dlavoie@lavoiegroup.com
SOURCE: IBEX Technologies Inc.
