N🟁N

ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. and Octapharma AG: Octapharma Provides ProMetic With a $4.5 M Advance on a Long-Term Supply Agreeme

  //house-home.news-articles.net/content/2009/10/0 .. 4-5-m-advance-on-a-long-term-supply-agreeme.html
  Published in House and Home on Thursday, October 1st 2009 at 8:51 GMT by Market Wire
          ^{🞛 This publication is a summary or evaluation of another publication}

MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA AND LACHEN, SWITZERLAND--(Marketwire - Oct. 1, 2009) -

- Further validates the market opportunity for prion capture technology

- Provides access to funds at competitive rates

- Further strengthens relationship with Octapharma

ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (TSX:PLI) ("ProMetic") and Octapharma AG ("Octapharma") announce that Octapharma is providing a $4.5 M advance to ProMetic on a long-term prion capture resin supply agreement signed in December 2008.

The advance will bear interest at a rate of 5% per annum and is to be offset against a schedule of payments for future supplies of products to Octapharma under the existing supply agreement.

The terms of the agreement also include exclusive licencing rights to Octapharma. These rights are linked to minimum yearly purchase orders for the prion capture resin incorporated into Octapharma's manufacturing process for its solvent/detergent treated plasma product, octaplasLG^®, which has now received regulatory approval for marketing in Germany and is currently in the final stages of regulatory assessment in other European countries including the United Kingdom.

The terms of the deal cover an initial advance of $3.6 M, of which $0.9 M was received earlier in May and $2.7 M in September 2009. An additional $0.9 M will be paid upon completion of targeted milestones, expected to be met during the first half of 2010.

"This advance provided by Octapharma is significant for a number of reasons. Not only does it leverage our existing agreement, allowing ProMetic access to affordable financing, but more importantly, it provides tangible evidence of the strength of the partnership between ProMetic and Octapharma," commented Mr. Bruce Pritchard, ProMetic's Chief Financial Officer, adding "We are very excited to be contracted to provide our prion capture technology to Octapharma for use in their octaplasLG^® product, particularly given that product's increasing exposure in the marketplace."

"Octapharma is committed to an optimal and safe use of the human proteins which constitute the basis for our life saving medicines. The partnership with ProMetic allows us to fulfill this commitment once more, now with the use of a state-of-the-art prion reduction technology for our biopharmaceutical plasma product line", commented Mr. Marc Maltas, Octapharma's Head of Intensive Care & Emergency Medicine International Business Unit.

"This deal underlines the importance of prion capture technology to ProMetic' s clients such as Octapharma who, by virtue of the adoption of ProMetic's technology in their manufacturing processes, are making long-term commitments to use these resins for the lifetime of their therapeutic product. In view of this, and since adoption of ProMetic's prion capture technology opens up new potential markets for its clients, then understandably ProMetic's clients have a keen interest in supporting ProMetic's continued investment in the development and improvement of its products and services," said Mr. Pierre Laurin, ProMetic's President and Chief Executive Officer.

About Octapharma AG

Octapharma, a Swiss-based company, is an independent, global plasma fractionation specialist. Its core business is the development, production and sale of high quality human proteins for the treatment of life-threatening diseases. The Company has grown to over 3,000 employees in 28 countries since its founding in 1983. Octapharma owns five modern, state-of-the-art production facilities in Austria, France, Sweden, Mexico and Germany. Sales turnover in 2008 exceeded Euro 885 million. Octapharma continues to grow and invest heavily in the future. Profits are mainly channeled into R&D and further improvements and expansion of Production. In the highly demanding market of life-saving plasma products, Company success is only possible through reliable product quality and a proven safety record.

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^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 UK, the US and Canada, manufacturing facilities in the UK and business development activities in the US, 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 25 of ProMetic's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2008, 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.