Tuesday June 6, 3:01 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Maxim Pharmaceuticals Enters Into Agreement to
Acquire Cytovia Inc.
SAN DIEGO--(BW HealthWire)--June 6, 2000--Maxim Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq NM:MAXM, SSE: MAXM)
announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Cytovia Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical research
company focused on the discovery and development of apoptosis inhibitors and activators, novel drugs that
modulate programmed cell death.
Cytovia's technology base includes proprietary drug candidates in the areas of oncology, oral mucositis and
cardiovascular disease, and a proprietary high-throughput screening process for other apoptosis-targeted drug
candidates.
Upon completion of the acquisition, Maxim will issue 1,585,214 shares of its common stock, or seven percent of its
total post-transaction shares outstanding, in exchange for all of the capital stock of Cytovia outstanding. Completion
of the acquisition is subject to a vote of Cytovia's shareholders. Upon completion of the transaction, Cytovia will be
a wholly owned subsidiary of Maxim.
``We are enthusiastic about combining Cytovia's exiting drug candidate pipeline and broad technology platform with
our clinical development and commercialization capabilities,'' said Larry Stambaugh, Maxim's chairman and chief
executive officer. ``In a short period of time Cytovia has developed a promising portfolio of drug candidates for
cancer, oral mucositis, and cardiovascular disease, and is screening compound libraries for other apoptosis-targeted
drugs that may be useful in several other therapeutic indications. We also believe that Cytovia's highly qualified
management group and associate base will add important capabilities to Maxim that accelerate our combined drug
discovery and development efforts. This is an important addition to our existing, advanced platform technologies,
Maxamine and MaxDerm.''
``We are extremely excited about this merger,'' said Eckard Weber, M.D., Cytovia's chief executive officer. ``The
merger of Cytovia into Maxim will allow us to greatly accelerate the clinical development of our key drug candidates
to the benefit of both shareholder groups. The addition of Cytovia's drug candidate pipeline and discovery engine to
Maxim's late-stage clinical products, and the strength of Maxim's clinical development and commercialization
capabilities, will make the combined company one of the more important players in the biotechnology industry.''
Cytovia Overview
Cytovia is a San Diego-based biomedical research company focused on the discovery and development of
small-molecule inhibitors and activators of caspases. Caspases are key enzymes that modulate and carry out the
cellular signaling pathways involved in programmed cell death, also known as apoptosis. Compounds that can either
inhibit caspases or induce caspases may form the basis for important new drugs for a wide variety of disease targets.
Cytovia has developed a proprietary high-throughput screening system that is targeted to discovery of both
caspase inhibitors and activators. The high-throughput screening technology has generated a pipeline of new drug
candidates, including several compounds that have undergone in vitro and in vivo testing. One of the drug
candidates is a caspase activator that has shown favorable results in preclinical models of drug resistant cancers.
Two other drug candidates are caspase inhibitors, one of which has been shown to be active in preclinical models of
oral mucositis. The other caspase inhibitor has been shown to afford protection of the heart muscle following an
ischemic event such as myocardial infarction, and ischemia/reperfusion injury. This compound has also been shown
to be highly active in preclinical models of acute liver failure associated with hepatitis, as well as in models of sepsis
and stroke.
Maxim Overview
Maxim Pharmaceuticals is a late-stage pharmaceutical company developing advanced drugs and therapies for cancer
and infectious diseases. The U.S. Phase III trial of the company's lead drug candidate Maxamine© (histamine
dihydrochloride) for the treatment of malignant melanoma was completed in March 2000 and the company plans to
file its NDA for the Phase III study in the summer of 2000. Maxamine is also currently being tested in two additional
Phase III cancer clinical trials in 12 countries for malignant melanoma and acute myelogenous leukemia. Phase II trials
of Maxamine are also underway for the treatment of hepatitis C and advanced renal cell carcinoma. Maxamine is
designed to be safely administered by patients in their own homes, and more than 1,000 patients have been treated in
completed and ongoing clinical trials. The company is also developing MaxDerm(TM), for the treatment of medical
conditions for which topical therapy is appropriate such as oral mucositis, herpes, decubitus ulcers, shingles, burns
and related conditions. The company expects to commercialize its technologies through a combination of in-house
development and collaborative agreements with pharmaceutical companies.
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such
forward-looking statements include statements regarding the efficacy and intended utilization of Maxamine,
MaxDerm and Cytovia's compounds, and regarding the company's clinical trials. Such statements are only
predictions and the company's actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking
statements. Factors that may cause such differences include the risk that products that appeared promising in early
research and clinical trials do not demonstrate safety or efficacy in larger-scale clinical trials and the risk that the
company will not obtain approval to market its products. Additional factors include uncertainties related to the
integration of Cytovia's operations and personnel with those of the company, and the risk that the acquisition of
Cytovia may not be completed, or, if completed, that the company may not realize the anticipated benefits from such
acquisition. These factors and others are more fully discussed in the company's periodic reports and other filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Note: Maxamine©, Maxamine Therapy(TM), MaxDerm(TM), and the Maxim logo are trademarks of the company.
Editor's Note: This release is also available on the Internet at: maxim.com.
Contact:
Maxim Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Larry G. Stambaugh or Dale A. Sander, 858/453-4040
or
Burns McClellan
Ethan Denkensohn (Investors) or Justin Jackson (Media)
212/213-0006 |
