LAVAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire -02/29/12)- ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (TSX: PLI.TO - News) (“ProMetic”) announced today that it has completed relevant milestones regarding the agreement (“Agreement”) entered into in March 2011 with Celgene Corporation for the worldwide rights to a commercial application of ProMetic’s Protein Technologies within a field of use.
As a result, a US$10.0 million long-term debt owed to Abraxis BioScience LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Celgene, has been completely and irrevocably forgiven. US$4 million of revenue had been recognized by ProMetic in the first half of 2011 effectively reducing said debt by the same amount and leaving US$6 million as deferred revenue on ProMetic’s balance sheet. The recognition of said remaining US$6 million of deferred revenues will effectively reduce ProMetic’s current liabilities by the same amount.
“We are pleased to have finalized our agreement with Celgene. This again clearly demonstrates the intrinsic value associated to the numerous potential commercial applications derived from our enabling technologies”, mentioned Mr. Pierre Laurin, President and Chief Executive Officer of ProMetic. “We highly value our relationship with Celgene and look forward to continuing to do business with them”.
About ProMetic Life Sciences Inc.
ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (“ProMetic”) (www.prometic.com) is a biopharmaceutical company specialized in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of a variety of commercial applications derived from its proprietary Mimetic™ Ligand technology. This technology is used in large-scale purification of biologics and the elimination of pathogens. ProMetic is also active in therapeutic drug development with the mission to bring to market effective, innovative, lower cost, less toxic products for the treatment of hematology and cancer. Its drug discovery platform is focused on replacing complex, expensive proteins with synthetic “drug-like” protein mimetics. Headquartered in Laval (Canada), ProMetic has R&D facilities in the UK, the U.S. and Canada, manufacturing facilities in the UK and business development activities in the U.S., Europe, Asia and in the Middle-East.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements about ProMetic’s objectives, strategies and businesses that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are “forward-looking” because they are based on our current expectations about the markets we operate in and on various estimates and assumptions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements if known or unknown risks affect our business, or if our estimates or assumptions turn out to be inaccurate. Such risks and assumptions include, but are not limited to, ProMetic’s ability to develop, manufacture, and successfully commercialize value-added pharmaceutical products, the availability of funds and resources to pursue R&D projects, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies, the ability of ProMetic to take advantage of business opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry, uncertainties related to the regulatory process and general changes in economic conditions. You will find a more detailed assessment of the risks that could cause actual events or results to materially differ from our current expectations on page 27 of ProMetic’s Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2010, under the heading “Risk Factors”. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement even if new information becomes available, as a result of future events or for any other reason, unless required by applicable securities laws and regulations. All amounts are in Canadian dollars unless stated otherwise.
Contact:
Company inquiries:
Pierre Laurin
President and CEO
ProMetic Life Sciences Inc.
p.laurin@prometic.com
+1.450.781.0115
Frederic Dumais
Director, Communications and
Investor Relations
ProMetic Life Sciences
f.dumais@prometic.com
+1.450.781.0115
