Procyon, Cellpep to merge
STORY UPDATE
MONTREAL—March 1, 2006—Procyon Biopharma announced it had closed the acquisition of Cellpep SA, acquiring more than 96% of all outstanding Cellpep securities. Following on this action, Procyon also changed its corporate name to Ambrilla Biopharma Inc. "The creation of Ambrilia Biopharma marks a new beginning and the year to come promises to be exciting with important corporate milestones expected to be met such as the regulatory filings in Europe and in the U.S. for our first high value-added generic, Octreotide," said Hans J. Mader, Ambrilia president and CEO.
MONTREAL—Procyon Bio-pharma Inc., a biotechnology company developing innovative therapeutics in the fields of cancer and HIV/AIDS, and Cellpep S.A., a French private biotechnology company developing therapeutics in oncology and infectious diseases, have announced a definitive acquisition agreement under which Procyon would acquire all of the outstanding securities of Cellpep in exchange for a number of common shares equal to $39.1 million in value to be issued to the Cellpep shareholders.
The strategic combination of both companies will form a new entity: Ambrilia Biopharma Inc., a global, publicly listed biopharmaceutical company specialized in the development of innovative therapeutics in the fields of oncology and infectious diseases. Following completion of the transaction, Ambrilia Biopharma's common shares will continue to be traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, under a new ticker symbol, AMB Cellpep brings to Procyon a complementary oncology and infectious diseases product portfolio that includes two late-stage high-value generics. The first of these products, octreotide, for which distribution agreements with major pharmaceutical companies have been already concluded, is expected to be launched in Europe in 2007 and in the U.S. in 2008. The second product, goserelin, is expected to be launched in Europe in 2008.
Subsequent to completion of the merger, Dr. Max Link will remain chairman of the board, Hans J. Mader will remain president and CEO and Dr. Bonabes de Rouge, Cellpep's co-founder and its current president and CEO, will become CSO of Ambrilia Biopharma. Procyon's co-founder, Dr. Chandra Panchal, will assume the responsibilities of business development, licensing and intellectual property.
