CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Biopure Corporation announced today that the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) has received new funding of approximately $3.4 million for the development of Hemopure(R) (HBOC-201). These funds are being granted through the Department of Defense for a project entitled: A Multifunctional Blood Substitute for Field Resuscitation of Polytrauma Combat Casualties with Brain Injury and Concomitant Hemorrhagic Shock.
Biopure is collaborating with the NMRC to develop HBOC-201 as a platform for the first multifunction blood substitute for trauma patients. The preclinical work towards a multifunctional product for traumatic brain injury is expected to be conducted by the NMRC itself and other laboratories to be engaged by the NMRC. The project is part of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program of the Office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.
This funding for development toward an indication of traumatic brain injury is in addition to the $22.5 million previously allocated by Congress for the military for research of HBOC-201. Biopure anticipates that the work relating to the multifunction blood substitute development will begin as soon as certain agreements are completed. The company continues to support the NMRC's efforts toward lifting the clinical hold on the NMRC's investigational new drug application to conduct the pending, proposed clinical trial in trauma patients entitled "Restore Effective Survival in Shock (RESUS).
Biopure Corporation
Biopure Corporation develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, called oxygen therapeutics, that are intravenously administered to deliver oxygen to the body's tissues. Hemopure(R) [hemoglobin glutamer -- 250 (bovine)], or HBOC-201, is approved for sale in South Africa for the treatment of surgical patients who are acutely anemic. The company is developing Hemopure for other indications and is supporting the U.S. Navy's government-funded efforts to develop a potential out-of-hospital trauma indication. Biopure's veterinary product Oxyglobin(R) [hemoglobin glutamer -- 200 (bovine)], or HBOC-301, the only oxygen therapeutic approved for marketing by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Commission, is indicated for the treatment of anemia in dogs. Biopure has sold approximately 200,000 units of Oxyglobin since its launch in 1998.
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements implying that any clinical trial will be initiated and/or carried out to completion, that preclinical study results will be as desired or that the FDA might lift the clinical hold on the RESUS trial. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties. These risks include, without limitation, uncertainties regarding the company's financial position, unexpected costs and expenses, possible delays related to clinical trials, determinations by the FDA, and unpredictable outcomes of preclinical and clinical trials. The company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to these forward- looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date hereof. A full discussion of the company's operations and financial condition can be found in the company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Form 10-Q filed on March 17, 2008, which can be accessed in the EDGAR database at the SEC Web site, http://www.sec.gov/. The content of this press release does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the U.S. Government or the Department of Defense, and no official endorsement should be inferred.
Contact: Tiana Gorham
Biopure Corporation
(617) 234-6826
IR@biopure.com
Biopure Corporation
