OctoPlus Announces 2010 First Half-Year Results

LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS--(Marketwire - August 06, 2010) - OctoPlus N.V. ("OctoPlus" or the "Company") (Euronext: OCTO), the drug delivery company, announces today its results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2010.

OctoPlus is a drug delivery company driving value through three key areas:

1. Proprietary drug delivery technologies
OctoPlus offers a platform of controlled release drug delivery technologies that enables the development of improved pharmaceutical products that have fewer side effects and improved patient convenience.

• An increase in request for proposals shows the growing adoption of the Company's proprietary technology by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector
• Two technology evaluation contracts for PolyActive^® have been signed this year
  • One with Novartis, the other with an undisclosed US biotechnology company.

2. Product pipeline
The clinically most advanced product incorporating the Company's PolyActive technology is Locteron®, a controlled release formulation of interferon alpha, which is being manufactured by OctoPlus for its licensee Biolex.

• Positive interim Phase IIb data on Locteron, which were presented in April, further validate the clinical benefit of OctoPlus' PolyActive drug delivery technology
• Revenues from Locteron were in line with expectations but were substantially lower than the same period last year as development and manufacturing for Phase IIb is completed
• Locteron's Phase IIb study is expected to be successfully completed before end of 2010.

3. Contract formulation and manufacturing services
OctoPlus has over 15 years of experience and expertise in the formulation and manufacturing of complex injectable therapeutics.

• OctoPlus signed contracts with seven additional new customers in 2010, of which The Medicines Company was announced in July.

Financial results
Financial results for the first half-year are affected by a lower amount of work for Locteron®, which was not unexpected as a result of its phase of clinical development. An improved order portfolio whilst maintaining a significantly reduced cost base provides a stronger outlook for the second half of the year.

• Following the restructuring in 2009, the total cost base (including interest) was reduced by EUR 4.1 million to EUR 7.6 million (2009: EUR 11.6 million)
• The development and manufacturing of Locteron for Phase IIb was completed at the end of 2009. In the first six months of 2010, OctoPlus performed a limited amount of work for Biolex, resulting in EUR 0.6 million Locteron revenues (2009: EUR 6.4 million)
• Non-Locteron revenues decreased by 6% to EUR 3.4 million (2009: EUR 3.6 million)
• Total revenues decreased by 60% to EUR 4.0 million (2009: EUR 10.0 million)
• Net loss increased to EUR 3.5 million (2009: net loss of EUR 1.6 million)
• Negative cash flow of EUR 2.9 million resulted in a cash position of EUR 0.4 million on 30 June 2010 (30 June 2009: EUR 1.5 million)
• OctoPlus has a EUR 2.0 million credit line facility in place with Fortis Bank Nederland, of which EUR 1.0 million was available on 30 June 2010.

Outlook
An improved order portfolio and a significantly reduced cost base provide a stronger outlook for the second half of the year.

• The Company expects revenues to increase in the second half of the year compared to the first half of the year following the contracts that were recently signed
• OctoPlus expects to be able to maintain its reduced cost level throughout the year
• Consequently, with the current cash position and available credit facility, the reduced cost base, current order portfolio and acquisition pipeline, the Company expects to be able to continue its development towards profitability.

Simon Sturge, CEO of OctoPlus comments: "We are delighted with the Locteron Phase IIb results and the growing adoption of our controlled release technology PolyActive. We anticipated reduced revenues compared to the same period last year as a result of the completion of work for Phase IIb for Locteron. The recently signed contracts combined with the reduced cost base provide us with a stronger outlook for the second half of the year."

Conference call and webcast presentation
OctoPlus will hold a conference call and webcast presentation today at 8:30 AM CET. This event can also be followed live via OctoPlus' website www.octoplus.nl. If you would like to participate in the conference call, please dial in on telephone number +31 (0) 45 631 6901. After the presentation, Simon Sturge, CEO of OctoPlus, and Susan Swarte, CFO, will be available to answer questions. After the event, the webcast will be available for replay on the Company's website.

Contact
For further information, please contact: Rianne Roukema, Corporate Communications: telephone number +31 (71) 524 1071 or send an e-mail to Investor Relations at IR@octoplus.nl.

About OctoPlus
OctoPlus is a drug delivery 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. OctoPlus focuses on the development of long-acting, controlled release versions of known protein therapeutics, other drugs, and vaccines on behalf of its clients.

The clinically most advanced product incorporating our technology is Biolex Therapeutics' lead product Locteron®, a controlled release formulation of interferon alpha for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. OctoPlus licensed Locteron exclusively to Biolex in October 2008. Locteron is being manufactured for Biolex by OctoPlus and is currently in Phase IIb clinical studies.

In addition, OctoPlus is a leading European 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.

OctoPlus is listed on Euronext Amsterdam by NYSE Euronext under the symbol OCTO. For more information about OctoPlus, please visit our website www.octoplus.nl.

This document may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to the business, financial performance and results of OctoPlus and the industry in which it operates. These statements are based on OctoPlus' 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.

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