ROCKVILLE, Md., Dec. 9, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:NABI) today announced the initiation of a Phase I/II clinical trial for two of the antigens in the PentaStaph(TM) vaccine candidate, which is now owned by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK). As a result of the initiation of the trial, Nabi is eligible for and has invoiced GSK $5 million for successful completion of this milestone due under the agreement governing Nabi's sale of PentaStaph(TM) (Pentavalent S. aureus Vaccine) and related assets to GSK. This milestone payment was contingent on initiation of the Phase I clinical trial for two PentaStaph antigens that target the most virulent toxins produced by the bacteria.
PentaStaph was sold to GSK for a total consideration of $46 million, including $26 million associated with accomplishing four milestone tasks. The remaining $21 million in payments contemplated in the transaction are associated with three milestones which the Company expects to complete within the next 14 months. These remaining milestones include completion of the Phase I trial, the successful transfer of specified materials and the successful transfer of technology. Nabi received a cash payment of $21.5 million when the transaction closed in November 2009 that included $20 million associated with the transaction close, $1 million associated with the sale of a separate pre-clinical program for a vaccine against S.epidermedis and $0.5 million as reimbursement for license fees and clinical materials previously manufactured for use in the Phase I trial.
"I am very pleased with our progress toward realizing the significant value of the PentaStaph asset sale," said Dr. Raafat Fahim, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals. "In one month since we successfully closed the transaction, we completed the first milestone under the sale agreement. We look forward to fully realizing the remaining $21 million of milestone payments."
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 nicotine addiction and gram-positive bacterial infections. Nabi Biopharmaceuticals is currently developing NicVAX(R) (Nicotine Conjugate Vaccine), 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 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: complete the remaining PentaStaph sale milestones; successfully close the licensing agreement transactions for NicVAX; 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 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 Reports on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 26, 2009 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.