NEWS-NEWS-MORE GREAT PROGRESS
ImmuNis Corp.
9 Law Drive, Fairfield, NJ 07004
DIAB II Clinical Trials Launched in Brazil by Biotech Holdings Ltd.
And Biobras S.A.
Fairfield, New Jersey - (March 9, 1999) - IMMUNIS CORP (BB: IMMC) today announced that in Brazil, Biotech Holdings Ltd. together with Biobras has launched a clinical trial with the objective of confirming that DIAB II is a safe and effective drug for the management of Type II diabetes using objective and subjective parameters of response in non-Asiatic patients. This study is
to provide expanded data on the drug, and is expected to aid in government approvals throughout Latin America and in the Caribbean. DIAB II was developed by Biotech Holdings Ltd., a Canadian-based pharmaceutical company, which controls the worldwide manufacturing and marketing rights to the drug. Immunis purchased a 25% interest in the commercial rights to DIAB II in 1998 for territories outside of Oriental Asia.
There is a high incidence of diabetes in South America; in some countries, 20% of people over 30 years of age suffer from the disease. Biotech and its partners will seek “reimbursable status” for DIAB II in all markets entered. This is a critical factor to successful marketing and sales in the region, since much of the population that would need the drug is unable to pay for it.
Under government reimbursement programs, the dispensing physicians and
hospitals are paid directly by the government for the drug. With approval for the drug in Brazil, DIAB II will also become qualified for regulatory approval in a number of countries within the Mercosur Trading Bloc, which has a combined population of more than 240 million.
IMMUNIS anticipates that the recent signing by BIOTECH of a license and distribution agreement with the dominant Brazilian drug company in the diabetes market place will open up the Latin American market for DIAB II. There are over 16 million reported Type II diabetics in Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Ecuador. The World Health Organization estimates indicate over 7 million cases of Type II Diabetes are in Brazil alone, where the illness affects over 10% of those over 40 years of age.
The Company believes that revenues from the sale of DIAB II in these South American countries alone, could have the potential to bring net revenues to IMMUNIS in excess of $30 million per year. Estimates for the U.S. market indicate that DIAB II sales have the potential to reach $200 million a year in the United States, which
would add substantially to the Company's net revenues.
IMMUNIS CORP. owns interests and invests in innovative health care modalities that address health problems afflicting populations in both developing countries and Western nations. The Company's interests may be in the form of strategic partnerships, direct ownership interest in patents, or participation in or control of commercial or marketing rights.
For more information, contact Richard Kaiser at YES International -
International Investor Relations Services, (757) 631 1094.
Included in this release are forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable;it can give no assurance that such expectations reflected in such forward
looking statements will prove correct. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors including sales levels, distribution and competition trends and other market factors. |
