PRXX NEWS!!!!!
Friday July 9, 11:05 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Praxis Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Proposed Equity Investment by Rothschild Bioscience
Managers - A Division of The Global Rothschild Group
CANBERRA, Australia, and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Praxis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTC
Bulletin Board: PRXX - news) is extremely pleased to announce it intends to accept an offer of an equity investment from a
fund advised by Rothschild Bioscience Managers Limited (RBML), a subsidiary of Rothschild Asset Management of the global
Rothschild group, subject to Praxis shareholder approval, and approval by the RBML board. The company has set a record
date as of the close of business of July 8, 1999 at its Annual General Meeting August 10, 1999 to approve the agreement.
The Rothschild Group
The Rothschild group worldwide ranks among the world's leading merchant banking organizations. As business has become
increasingly international, the Rothschild group has expanded beyond Europe to meet the more diverse needs of its clients. It
has subsidiaries and affiliates in more than 20 countries and employs more than 2,000 people. In Australia, Rothschild Australia
Asset Management Limited has nearly $8 billion under management. It has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and also
works closely with other Rothschild asset management companies, especially in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. Rothschild
& Sons (Australia) Limited offers a full range of merchant banking services, and has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. A
unit trust managed by (RBML) has $42.5 million for investment in the Australian bioscience sector. Rothschild has been
selected on the basis of its strong international links, specialized technological expertise and established core management team.
Coupled with an established global network of alliances and expertise, it provides the management team with a strong
international presence.
Rothschild has been involved in the start-up financing of many successful biotechnology ventures including Amgen Inc., Chiron
Corp., Genentech Inc., Genzyme Corp. and Applied Biosystems. Less advanced companies being funded currently include
SUGEN Inc., Cell Therapeutics Inc., Ribozyme, Centocor Inc., Eos Biotechnology, Inflazyme and Creative Biomolecules Inc.
Terms of the Equity Investment
RBML will provide $2,000,000 Aust. (approx. 1.4 million US) for approximately 18 months of therapeutic agent development
through an investment in Praxis Pharmaceuticals Ltd., which is presently a wholly owned subsidiary of Praxis Inc. Praxis Inc.
will retain 35% equity in the Australian subsidiary, which will be dedicated to the development of carbohydrate-based
anti-inflammatory agents, which are to be registered as therapeutics. Praxis Inc. will retain the rights to all cosmetic and
complementary medicine applications existing and under development and all drugs developed outside the area of
carbohydrate-based anti-inflammatory agents. Assuming successful completion of progress milestones, a further round of
funding is anticipated, in the order of $3,000,000-$4,500,000 Aust. (approx. $2-3 million US) to expand the clinical trial
program after approximately 18 months.
Complete details of the terms of the agreement will be sent to shareholders for the Annual General Meeting. A definitive final
agreement will be signed if the Praxis Shareholders approve of the deal. The agreement is subject to a final assessment by
Rothschild of the Praxis patent situation, which is expected to be completed by mid-July, 1999. The company does not forsee
any problems in this regard and has therefore begun the process to receive shareholder approval.
In Summary
The Directors of Praxis Pharmaceuticals are extremely pleased with the terms of the proposed agreement. This will allow the
company to further develop its core anti-inflammatories with a proven financial partner and will also allow the company to
expand into other areas of development. This will further solidify the company's efforts to get a full Nasdaq listing.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Dr. Brett Charlton
President, Director
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This news release contains forward-looking
statements. All such forward-looking statements are, by necessity, only estimates of future results and actual results achieved by
Praxis may differ materially from these statements due to a number of factors. Praxis assumes no obligation to update these
forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such
statements. You should independently investigate and fully understand all risks before making investment decisions.
SOURCE: Praxis Pharmaceuticals Inc.
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