EDMONTON, July 19 /CNW/ - Biomira Inc. (Nasdaq:BIOM) (TSX:BRA) announced
today that it has exercised its put option to acquire an equity position in
Prima BioMed Ltd. (ASX: PRR) ("Prima"), an Australian biotech company. In
March 2004, Biomira announced a technology licensing and commercial agreement
with CancerVac, a subsidiary of Prima, acquiring a 10 per cent equity stake in
CancerVac. Biomira had the right to convert this stake to shares in Prima,
which it has now exercised.
In 2004, Biomira announced a commercial agreement for the development and
commercialization of a cancer vaccine belonging to CancerVac. Biomira provided
CancerVac with access to its licensed, exclusive worldwide rights to the MUC1
protein for use in CancerVac's Mannan-MUC1 fusion protein therapeutic vaccine.
CancerVac initiated a Phase IIa trial in patients with metastatic ovarian
cancer in the second quarter of 2004.
"Prima Biomed has a diverse portfolio of products, including the Mannan-
MUC1 fusion protein technology. This development agreement and equity stake in
Prima underline the variety of ways in which we are seeking to maximize the
potential of our MUC1 technology, and we look forward to results from the
Phase IIa clinical trial expected later this year," said Alex McPherson, MD,
PhD, President and CEO of Biomira.
Biomira Inc.
Biomira is a biotechnology company specializing in the development of
innovative therapeutic approaches to cancer management. Biomira's commitment
to the treatment of cancer currently focuses on the development of synthetic
vaccines and novel strategies for cancer immunotherapy. We are The Cancer
Vaccine People(TM).
Prima BioMed Ltd.
Prima Biomed is a biotechnology company based in Melbourne, Australia and
is developing technologies in the fields of immunology and cancer
immunotherapy originating from the Austin Research Institute in Melbourne.
This release may contain forward-looking statements. Various factors
could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in
forward-looking statements, including those predicting the potential of the
new CancerVac product candidate or the importance of our equity position in
the parent company. .Although the Company believes that the forward-looking
statements contained herein are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the
Company's expectations are correct. All forward-looking statements are
expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
