- Nabi Biopharmaceuticals' Cash Position Enhanced -
- Company's Core Strategic Goal of Optimizing Value from Operations
Furthered -
- Company to Hold Conference Call on October 12, 2006 at 9:30 AM, EDT -
BOCA RATON, Fla., Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nabi
Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: NABI) announced today that it has signed a
definitive agreement to sell PhosLo(R) (calcium acetate) and the product's
related assets to a US subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Care ("Fresenius")
for consideration of up to $150 million in up front cash, milestone
payments, and royalties on sales of a new product formulation under
development.
Under the terms of the agreement, Fresenius will pay Nabi
Biopharmaceuticals $65 million in cash at closing, and an additional $20
million upon the successful completion of certain milestones. Fresenius is
also acquiring rights to a new product formulation currently under
development, which Nabi expects will be submitted for licensure in the US
during 2007. Following the successful launch of this new product
formulation, Fresenius has agreed to pay Nabi Biopharmaceuticals royalties
on incremental sales of the new product formulation for 10 years after the
closing date until total consideration paid in the transaction reaches $150
million. In connection with the sale, Fresenius will assume the prosecution
of the Roxane patent litigation initiated by Nabi. In addition, a number of
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals' sales and marketing staff will move with PhosLo to
Fresenius' team to continue to promote and market the product. Nabi
Biopharmaceuticals will maintain an appropriately-sized sales force to meet
the sales needs of the company's other products. Following the transaction,
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals expects to realize a significant reduction in its
selling, general and administrative expenses.
Thomas H. McLain, chairman, chief executive officer and president, Nabi
Biopharmaceuticals, stated, "PhosLo, while a valuable product, was no
longer strategically aligned with our broader commercialization efforts.
The PhosLo sale strengthens our financial position and will help reduce our
selling, general and administrative expenses. Although the PhosLo
transaction was initiated well before our recent announcement regarding the
exploration of strategic alternatives, it demonstrates our commitment to
evaluate and ability to pursue strategic transactions that we believe will
enhance shareholder value. We will continue to focus on our core
competencies and our most promising assets, including our nicotine
addiction, organ transplant and Gram- positive infections programs, each of
which represents a substantial commercial opportunity targeting unmet
medical needs. Under the agreement with Fresenius, dialysis patients
suffering from hyperphosphatemia will continue to have access to PhosLo and
its demonstrated clinical benefits and we are committed to delivering a
quick and seamless transition of the product to Fresenius."
The transaction is subject to customary closing and regulatory
conditions including expiration of the waiting period under the
Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and is expected to be
completed within the next thirty days. Nabi Biopharmaceuticals' Board of
Directors received an opinion, subject to various assumptions and
limitations described therein, from Banc of America Securities LLC as to
the fairness, from a financial point of view, of the consideration to be
received by Nabi Biopharmaceuticals in the sale.
About PhosLo(R)
PhosLo(R) is administered orally, and when given with food, it combines
with dietary phosphate to form insoluble calcium phosphate complexes that
are eliminated from the body, thereby reducing phosphorus absorption,
helping to prevent excess blood phosphorus levels. Patients should have
serum calcium levels closely monitored and their dose of PhosLo adjusted or
terminated to bring levels to normal. PhosLo is contraindicated in patients
with hypercalcemia. No other calcium supplements should be given
concurrently with PhosLo. PhosLo is well tolerated. Nausea, hypercalcemia,
and pruritus (itching) have occasionally been reported during PhosLo
therapy.
About Nabi Biopharmaceuticals
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals leverages its experience and knowledge in
powering the immune system to develop and market products that fight
serious medical conditions. The company has three products on the market
today: PhosLo(R) (calcium acetate), Nabi-HB(R) [Hepatitis B Immune Globulin
(Human)], and Aloprim(TM) (allopurinol sodium) for Injection. Nabi
Biopharmaceuticals is focused on developing products that address unmet
medical needs and offer commercial opportunities in our core business
areas: Hepatitis and transplant, Gram-positive bacterial infections and
nicotine addiction. For a complete list of pipeline products, please go to:
http://www.nabi.com/pipeline/index.php. The company is headquartered in
Boca Raton, Florida. For additional information about Nabi
Biopharmaceuticals, please visit our website: http://www.nabi.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release about the company that are not
strictly historical are forward-looking statements and include statements
related to our plans to explore strategic alternatives and prospects. You
can identify these forward-looking statements because they involve our
expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans, projections, or other
characterizations of future events or circumstances. These forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to
risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially
from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of any number of
factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, risks relating to
the company's ability to advance the development of products currently in
the pipeline or in clinical trials; maintain the human and financial
resources to commercialize current products and bring to market products in
development; obtain regulatory approval for its products in the U.S.,
Europe or other markets; successfully develop, manufacture and market its
products; successfully partner with other companies; realize future sales
growth for its biopharmaceutical products; maintain sufficient intellectual
property protection or positions; raise additional capital on acceptable
terms; re-pay its outstanding convertible senior notes when due; and
identify and complete transactions that represent strategic alternatives
and opportunities. Many of these factors are more fully discussed, as are
other factors, in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2005 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
Quarter ended July 1, 2006 filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
About the Conference Call
The live webcast can be accessed at: http://phx.corporate-
ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=100445&eventID=1401182 or via
the Nabi Biopharmaceuticals website at http://www.nabi.com. If you do not
have Internet access, the U.S./Canada call-in number is 866.202.4367
conference code 38407817, and the international call-in number is
617.213.8845 conference code 38407817. An audio replay will be available
for U.S./Canada callers at 888-286-8010 conference code 34840919, and for
international callers at 617- 801-6888 conference code 34840919.
An archived version of the webcast will be available at the same
Internet address through October 19, 2006. The audio replay will also be
available through October 19, 2006. The press release will be available on
the company's website at http://www.nabi.com.
SOURCE Nabi Biopharmaceuticals
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Related links:
http://www.nabi.com
http://www.nabi.com/pipeline/index.php
CONTACT:
Thomas E. Rathjen, Vice President, Investor
Relations, of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, +1-561-989-5800
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