ROCKVILLE, Md., Nov. 4, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:NABI) announced that it has completed the sale of PentaStaph(TM) (Pentavalent S. aureus Vaccine) and related assets to GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK). The sale was announced in August of this year. Under the terms of the agreement, Nabi will receive cash payments of $21.5 million of which $20 million is associated with the PentaStaph transaction close, $1 million associated with the sale of a separate pre-clinical program for a vaccine against S.epidermedis, as well as $0.5 million as reimbursement for license fees and clinical materials previously manufactured for use in the Phase I trial. The remaining $26 million in payments contemplated in the transaction are associated with the completion of four milestones which the Company expects to complete within the next 16 months. These remaining milestones include initiation and completion of the Phase I trial, the successful transfer of specified materials and the successful transfer of technology. In connection with the sale, Nabi agreed to provide services to GSK related to the conduct of the Phase I trial and the transfer of the Staph program in exchange for reimbursement of Nabi's expenses.
"The completion of this transaction marks another significant step in our strategic alternatives process," said Dr. Raafat Fahim, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nabi. "We remain focused on our strategic alternatives including advancing strategic partnering discussions for the continued development and future commercialization of NicVAX, our proprietary smoking cessation vaccine for treatment of nicotine addiction and prevention of smoking relapse as well as a sale or merger of the company."
About Nabi Biopharmaceuticals
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals leverages its experience and knowledge in powering the immune system to develop products that target serious medical conditions in the areas of gram positive bacterial infections and nicotine addiction. Nabi Biopharmaceuticals is currently developing NicVAX, an innovative and proprietary investigational vaccine for treatment of nicotine addiction and prevention of smoking relapse. The company is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. For additional information about Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, please visit our Web site: http://www.nabi.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this release that are not strictly historical are forward-looking statements and include statements about products in development, results and analyses of clinical trials and studies, research and development expenses, cash expenditures, licensure applications and approvals, and alliances and partnerships, among other matters. You can identify these forward-looking statements because they involve our expectations, intentions, beliefs, plans, projections, anticipations, 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 our ability to: successfully complete the remaining PentaStaph sale milestones; partner with third parties to fund, develop, manufacture and/or commercialize our products in development; initiate and conduct clinical trials and studies; raise sufficient new capital resources to fully develop and commercialize our products in development; attract, retain and motivate key employees; collect further milestone and royalty payments under the PhosLo Agreement; obtain regulatory approval for our products in the U.S. or other markets; successfully contract with third party manufacturers for the manufacture and supply of NicVAX and PentaStaph; and comply with reporting and payment obligations under government rebate and pricing programs. Some of these factors are more fully discussed, as are other factors, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 27, 2008 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 28, 2009 and June 27, 2009 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.