EVANSTON, Ill., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Northfield Laboratories Inc.
(Nasdaq: NFLD), a leading developer of an oxygen-carrying blood substitute,
today reported that late Friday, August 17, 2001, C. Robert Coates, a
shareholder of the company, notified the court in Delaware of his intention to
dismiss his lawsuit to delay Northfield's annual meeting of shareholders.
Coates had requested that the annual meeting be postponed to allow
additional time for him to solicit shareholder proxies to elect two
representatives to the Northfield board.
Northfield issued a press release Friday notifying shareholders of the
court case and the potential for delay in the annual meeting date. Later that
afternoon, subsequent to the company's announcement, Coates advised the court
that he would be dismissing his lawsuit and would not move forward with a
proxy contest. Coates has filed a formal notice of dismissal with the
Delaware court.
"We are pleased that this suit's distraction was short-lived. We now can
maintain our focus on the regulatory goal at hand, and the preparation of our
annual business update, where we plan to discuss our achievement with our
shareholders," said Richard DeWoskin, chairman and chief executive officer.
Northfield announced last week that it is completing a Biologics License
Application for its blood-substitute product, PolyHeme(TM), and plans to
submit the application to the FDA by Labor Day.
The company will provide more detail on its regulatory progress in its
annual business update on August 31, 2001. This presentation will be webcast
after the close of the market, at 4:30 p.m. central time, that day. Anyone
interested in accessing the presentation should log on to
http://www.northfieldlabs.com or http://www.videonewswire.com , or, for those without
Internet access, you may dial in to 888-413-4411 to listen to the call. A
replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days after the presentation.
The telephonic replay will be available for seven days by dialing 888-266-2086
and providing the passcode, 5458560.
Northfield's annual meeting will take place earlier that day at 2:00 p.m.
central time to vote on business matters as outlined in its August 3rd proxy
statement. Only questions related to those business matters will be taken at
the meeting. The business update will not be webcast at corporate
headquarters.
Shareholders who have not yet signed and returned their proxy cards
included with Northfield's proxy statement are requested to do so promptly.
About the Company
Northfield Laboratories, founded in 1985, is a leading developer of an
oxygen-carrying blood substitute. Its product, PolyHeme, is the only blood
substitute undergoing clinical trials that has been tested at large enough
dosages to be considered a substitute for acute blood loss in trauma and
surgical settings. As a result of the process used to manufacture the blood
substitute, essentially a solution of polymerized hemoglobin, PolyHeme has a
longer shelf life than blood, requires no cross matching and does not transmit
disease.
Statements in this release that are not strictly historical are "forward-
looking" statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, which may cause the company's
actual results in the future to differ materially from expected results.
These risks include, among others: competition from other blood substitute
products; the company's ability to obtain regulatory approval to market
PolyHeme commercially; the company's and/or its representative's ability to
successfully market and sell PolyHeme; the company's ability to manufacture
PolyHeme in sufficient quantities; the company's ability to obtain an adequate
supply of raw materials; the company's ability to maintain intellectual
property protection for its proprietary product and to defend its existing
intellectual property rights from challenges by third parties; the
availability of capital to finance planned growth; and the extent to which the
hospitals and physicians using PolyHeme are able to obtain third-party
reimbursement, as described in the company's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
SOURCE Northfield Laboratories, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.northfieldlabs.com
CONTACT:
Richard DeWoskin, Chief Executive Officer of
Northfield Laboratories, Inc., +1-847-864-3500; or General
Information, Leslie Hunziker of The Financial Relations Board,
+1-312-640-6760
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