ProMetic, American Red Cross and Macopharma to Market the First Product for the Selective Adsorbtion of Prions out from Blood
Initial European roll out planned for 2005 - Strategic alliance to include development of filters for viruses - MacoPharma to market and distribute the products
Pathogen Removal and Diagnostic Technologies Inc. (PRDT), the joint venture company of ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. and the American Red Cross, announced today the formation of a strategic alliance with MacoPharma, one of the largest distributors of blood collection bag sets with complementary expertise and technologies, to market and further develop products for the selective adsorbtion of pathogens (prions and viruses) out from blood and blood-derived products.
The first product addressing prions is targeted to be launched in 2005 in Europe. Over the next few months the parties will be working on the implementation of their commercial strategy, in order to provide the first commercially available prion filter for red blood cells. The parties will also finalize the last remaining steps in anticipation of the launch.
"PRDT's technology is an innovative breakthrough for the blood industry and our market position in Europe will be consolidated," said Hervé Dubly President, of MacoPharma. "We look forward to penetrating other key markets with this highly-visible product and leveraging our own expertise with the development of additional products with PRDT, for the benefit of patients," added Mr. Dubly.
PRDT's prion removal ligands are the sole products that specifically address the selective adsorbtion of infectious prion proteins. The product has been successful in recent preliminary studies and is proceeding on schedule for its expected launch in 2005.
"This strategic alliance capitalizes on the strengths of the parties and will accelerate the development and commercialisation of this urgently-needed first product, to be followed by next-generation devices" said Pierre Laurin, President and CEO of ProMetic Life Sciences. "MacoPharma and PRDT will combine unique and proprietary technologies, share in the development costs and in the revenues of additional filters."
This announcement follows a series of achievements by PRDT scientists, who recently confirmed that they had identified lead ligands capable of specifically targeting certain types of viruses that remain a challenge to the blood industry. The forthcoming product line extension might ultimately target viruses, by the on-site filtration of donor blood supplies in blood transfusion centres, to reduce the potential risk of transmission of different types of viruses such as West Nile Virus and Hepatitis C (flavivirus and parvovirus families respectively).
Over 40 million blood units are collected annually and therefore, filters designed to reduce the risk of transmitting prions and viruses via blood transfusion, represent a significant market for the parties.
"PRDT's pathogen products are designed to assist blood transfusion services around the world in maintaining the safety of blood and blood-derived products by targeting prions and hopefully viruses in the future" stated Christopher Lamb, Senior Vice President, American Red Cross, Plasma Services. "Safety of the blood supply is a top priority for the Red Cross", added Mr. Lamb.
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