MONTREAL, April 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (“ProMetic”) announced today that Dr. Robert Rohwer, Pathogen Removal and Diagnostics Technology Inc.'s (“PRDT”) academic co-founder and Dr. Patrick Gurgel, ProMetic’s Senior Research Scientist will present at the American Chemical Society’s (“ACS”) 235th National Meeting in New Orleans from April 6 - 10, 2008. Drs Rohwer and Gurgel will be speaking during the symposium honoring Dr. Ruben Carbonell’s nomination as Fellow of the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry (“I&EC”) Division of the ACS.
Dr. Carbonell is an academic co-founder of PRDT, a ProMetic joint venture with the American Red Cross, along with Dr. Robert Rohwer.
Dr. Rohwer will be speaking on April 7, 2008 at 16:25 (EDT) and the title of his presentation is “Managing the risks from blood-associated TSE infectivity with prion affinity ligands”.
Dr. Gurgel’s lecture titled “Development of a device for prion reduction based on affinity ligand” will be presented on April 8, 2008 at 13:30 (EDT)
The accompanying presentations will be available on ProMetic’s website at http://www.prometic.com/en/scientific_information_et.htm following the respective lecture.
About PRDT Academic co-founders
Dr. Ruben Carbonell, is the Frank Hawkins Kenan Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Director of the Golden LEAF Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (“BTEC”) at North Carolina State University. Dr. Carbonell’s recent research in bioseparations led to the identification of a specific ligand for the prion protein responsible for the transmission of mad cow disease in humans. This ligand is being used to remove prion protein from blood products. Dr. Carbonell is the recipient of a number of teaching and research awards, including NC State’s Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professorship and the Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal. Dr. Carbonell joined the faculty at NC State as a full professor in 1984. He served as head of the Department of Chemical Engineering from 1994 to 1999. Dr. Carbonell also directs the William R. Kenan, Jr. Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science and is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society.
Dr. Robert G. Rohwer is the Director of the Molecular Neurovirology Laboratory, Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center and Associate Professor of Neurology, at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. For 30 years Dr. Rohwer has conducted research on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (“TSEs”), a class of fatal neurodegenerative diseases that include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which infects humans, scrapie, which infects sheep and goats, and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (“BSE”), a newly emergent disease that affects both cattle and humans. Dr. Rohwer’s studies on the kinetics of inactivation of the TSE agents have provided the scientific foundation for disinfection guidelines in the U.S. and worldwide. More recently Dr. Rohwer and his laboratory team have conducted critical experiments establishing the level, distribution and transmissibility of TSE infectivity in blood, the results of which have been used to shape government policies on TSE risk management around the world. Dr. Rohwer consults on the management of TSE risks for the World Health Organization, the European Commission, Health Canada, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the American Red Cross, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and numerous commercial clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, agribusiness and related industries, including ProMetic Life Sciences Inc.
About Pathogen Removal and Diagnostic Technologies Inc.
Pathogen Removal and Diagnostic Technologies Inc. (“PRDT”) is a joint venture established in April 2002 by The American Red Cross and ProMetic Life Sciences Inc., and allows for the exchange of technology and knowledge between the two organizations. PRDT’s main goal is to develop products and devices to remove and detect different pathogens from biological sources. This research augments work that ProMetic, the American Red Cross and PRDT’s scientific founders have been conducting independently for many years.
About ProMetic Life Sciences Inc.
ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (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(TM) 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 Montreal (Canada), ProMetic has R&D facilities in the U.K., the U.S. and Canada, manufacturing facilities in the U.K. 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 21 of ProMetic’s Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2007, 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.
CONTACT: Company Inquiries: Pierre Laurin, President and CEO, ProMetic
Life Sciences Inc., (514) 341-2115, p.laurin@prometic.com; Dominic Sicotte,
Echoes Financial Network Inc., (514) 842-9551,
dsicotte@echoesfinancial.com; Anne Leduc, Manager, Investor Relations &
Communications, ProMetic Life Sciences Inc., (514) 341-2115,
a.leduc@prometic.com; Investor Relations: Bruce Voss, Lippert/Heilshorn &
Associates, (310) 691-7100, BVoss@lhai.com; Kim Golodetz, Lippert/Heilshorn
& Associates, KGolodetz@lhai.com, (212) 838-3777; Media Relations: Jules
Abraham, Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, (212) 838-3777, JAbraham@lhai.com
