ANNAPOLIS, Md., June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PharmAthene, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PIP) announced today that the Company was added to the Russell Global Index and the Russell 3000 Index when Russell Investments reconstituted its comprehensive set of U.S. and global equity indexes on June 24, 2011. The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S. companies based on total market capitalization. The new membership lists are available at http://www.russell.com/indexes/tools-resources/reconstitution.asp.
Membership in the Russell Global Index, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the appropriate large-cap, small-cap, all-cap indexes as well as the applicable style, sector and country indexes. Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes.
Russell indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both passive and active investment strategies. An industry-leading US$3.9 trillion in institutional assets currently are benchmarked to them.
“PharmAthene is pleased to be included for the first time in the Russell Global Index and the Russell 3000 Index,” said Eric I. Richman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are deeply committed to building a premier biodefense organization specializing in the development and rapid commercialization of best-in-class medical countermeasures for the multi-billion dollar biodefense industry. We look forward to continuing to advance our mission of helping to keep Americans safe at home and on the battlefield.”
The Russell Global Index, which captures 98% of investable securities globally, is reconstituted annually and all sub-indexes are recalibrated simultaneously to accurately measure current market realities for each market segment. Russell launched the Russell Global Index in 2007, leveraging the popular methodology from its U.S. indexes. The broad-market Russell 3000® Index serves as the U.S. component to the Russell Global Index. Daily returns for the Russell Global Index and other Russell Indexes are available at http://www.russell.com/indexes/data/default.asp.
About Russell:
Russell Investments provides strategic advice, world-class implementation, state-of-the-art performance benchmarks and a range of institutional-quality investment products. Russell has about $161 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2011, and serves individual, institutional and advisor clients in more than 35 countries. Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
About PharmAthene, Inc.
PharmAthene was formed to meet the critical needs of the United States and its allies by developing and commercializing medical countermeasures against biological and chemical weapons. PharmAthene’s lead product development programs include:
- SparVax second generation recombinant protective antigen (rPA) anthrax vaccine
- Valortim® fully human monoclonal antibody for the prevention and treatment of anthrax infection
- rBChE (recombinant butyrylcholinesterase) a medical countermeasure for nerve agent poisoning by organophosphorous compounds, including nerve agents and pesticides
Statement on Cautionary Factors
Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements preceded by, followed by, or that include the words “potential"; “believe"; “anticipate"; “intend"; “plan"; “expect"; “estimate"; “could"; “may"; “should"; “will"; “project"; “potential"; or similar statements are forward-looking statements. PharmAthene disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements other than as required by law. Risks and uncertainties include risk associated with the reliability of the results of the studies relating to human safety and possible adverse effects resulting from the administration of the Company’s product candidates, unexpected funding delays and/or reductions or elimination of U.S. government funding for one or more of the Company’s development programs, the award of government contracts to our competitors, unforeseen safety issues, challenges related to the development, scale-up, technology transfer, and/or process validation of manufacturing processes for our product candidates, unexpected determinations that these product candidates prove not to be effective and/or capable of being marketed as products, challenges related to the implementation of our NYSE Amex compliance plan, as well as risks detailed from time to time in PharmAthene’s Forms 10-K and 10-Q under the caption “Risk Factors” and in its other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). In particular, there can be no assurance that the Company will prevail in its lawsuit against SIGA, or that even if the court rules in the Company’s favor, the court will award monetary damages or other remedies adequate to fully compensate the Company for its losses. Further, significant additional non-clinical animal studies, human clinical trials, and manufacturing development work remain to be completed for Valortim®. Additionally, at this point there can be no assurance that PharmAthene’s rPA product candidate will be shown to be safe and effective and approved by regulatory authorities for use in humans. Copies of PharmAthene’s public disclosure filings are available from its investor relations department and our website under the investor relations tab at www.PharmAthene.com.
SOURCE PharmAthene, Inc.
