OctoPlus Wins New Drug Delivery Evaluation Contract

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 12 Nov 2008 - 2:00 PST

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As part of the Company's recently announced strategic focus on developing controlled release formulations for clients, OctoPlus N.V. ("OctoPlus" or "the Company") (Euronext: OCTO) announces that it has signed a new drug delivery technology evaluation contract with a US-based biotech company.

On 6 October OctoPlus announced a licensing agreement with Biolex Therapeutics, to license Locteron®, a product based on OctoPlus' PolyActive® drug delivery technology, to Biolex. OctoPlus' strategy will increasingly focus on developing controlled release versions of existing or new drugs for clients, in addition to providing general formulation development and clinical material manufacturing. Currently, OctoPlus is working on five projects to develop a controlled release formulation for a client.

Under the contract announced today, OctoPlus will evaluate the feasibility of a controlled release formulation that combines the active ingredient of the client with OctoPlus' proprietary drug delivery technology. If the evaluation is successful, the contract may progress to a full process development, manufacturing and licensing agreement.

About OctoPlus

OctoPlus N.V. is a product-oriented biopharmaceutical company committed to the creation of improved pharmaceutical products that are based on OctoPlus' proprietary drug delivery technologies and have fewer side effects, improved patient convenience and a better efficacy/safety balance than existing therapies. Rather than seeking to discover novel drug candidates through early stage research activities, OctoPlus focuses on the development of long-acting, controlled release versions of known protein therapeutics, other drugs, and vaccines on behalf of its clients.

The lead product incorporating our technology is Locteron®, a controlled release formulation of interferon alfa for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, which has been licensed to Biolex Therapeutics and is being manufactured by OctoPlus. Locteron is currently in Phase II clinical studies.

In addition, OctoPlus is a leading European provider of advanced drug formulation and clinical scale manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, with a focus on difficult-to-formulate active pharmaceutical ingredients.

OctoPlus is listed on Euronext Amsterdam by NYSE Euronext under the symbol OCTO. For more information about OctoPlus, please visit our website http://www.octoplus.nl.

This document may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to the business, financial performance and results of OctoPlus N.V. and the industry in which it operates. These statements are based on OctoPlus N.V.'s current plans, estimates and projections, as well as its expectations of external conditions and events. In particular the words "expect", "anticipate", "predict", "estimate", "project", "plan", "may", "should", "would", "will", "intend", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We caution investors that a number of important factors, and the inherent risks and uncertainties that such statements involve, could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. In the event of any inconsistency between an English version and a Dutch version of this document, the English version will prevail over the Dutch version.

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