Pharming signs Commercialization Agreement for Lactoferrin with Aslan
Group A.S.
Leiden, The Netherlands, July 15, 2008. Biotech company Pharming
Group NV ("Pharming" or "the Company") (NYSE Euronext: PHARM)
announced today that it has signed a commercialization and supply
agreement with Aslan Group A.S. in Turkey ("Aslan") for the
marketing and distribution of food or food supplements containing
Pharming's human lactoferrin product (hLF).
Under the agreement, Pharming will supply to Aslan milk powder
containing specified amounts of hLF. Aslan will be responsible for
the production and the design of the finished products. The final
products will be used as food or as a food supplement targeted at
people who will benefit from the use of hLF. Aslan acquired the
exclusive distribution rights for Turkey, Middle East, Ukraine and
Russia. Under the terms of the agreement Aslan will pay a transfer
price for the bulk product which is dependent on the specified
concentration of hLF. Further financial details were not disclosed.
The agreement has a lifetime of five years with an option to further
extension. During the initial period of the agreement Pharming's
production capacity will be increased to be able to satisfy the
growing market's demand.
Lactoferrin is a protein naturally present in different mammalian
secretions especially in human breast milk, saliva and tears. The
protein has several properties related to the human immune system,
including anti-infective and anti-inflammatory protection. Several
scientific studies have shown that the product is safe. Pharming is
producing hLF in milk of transgenic cattle in its facilities in
Wisconsin (USA) for use as an ingredient in advanced nutritional
products.
Dr. Bruno Giannetti, Chief Operations Officer at Pharming, commented:
"The agreement with Aslan on recombinant human lactoferrin is a
hallmark for Pharming's transgenic technology platform. It is our
first product to become available on the market and it is the first
human product from this technology in advanced food products. People
are more and more focussing on health and healthy food and markets
for nutritional applications are only growing."
Aslan Group is one of the leading family owned companies in Turkey,
with a successful track record in several business areas, which has
been established in 1978. Nutrition is the newest focus of the Aslan
Group in the fast growing market of Turkey. Ibrahim Aslan, owner and
Chairman of the Aslan Group commented: "The agreement with Pharming
can be considered for the Aslan Group as a first step in the
important high-tech nutritional market."
About Pharming Group NV
Pharming Group NV is developing innovative products for the treatment
of genetic disorders, ageing diseases, specialty products for
surgical indications, intermediates for various applications and
nutritional products. Pharming has two products in late stage
development - Rhucin® for Hereditary Angioedema and human lactoferrin
for use in food products. The advanced technologies of the Company
include innovative platforms for the production of protein
therapeutics, technology and processes for the purification and
formulation of these products, as well as technology in the field of
DNA repair (via DNage). Additional information is available on the
Pharming website, http://www.pharming.com and on http://www.dnage.nl.
This press release contains forward looking statements that involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may
cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company
to be materially different from the results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by these forward looking
statements. The press release also appears in Dutch. In the event of
any inconsistency, the English version will prevail over the Dutch
version.
Contact:
Carina Hamaker, Investor Voice, T: +31 (0)6 537 499 59 or T: +31
(0)71 52 47 400
Samir Singh (US), Pharming Group NV, T: +1 908 720 6224
Rein Strijker, Pharming Group NV, T: +31 (0)71 52 47 400
