For immediate release: April 15, 2004
Not for Distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for Dissemination in the U.S.
VANCOUVER – Inex Pharmaceuticals Corporation (“INEX”; TSX: IEX) announced today that it has been advised that an aggregate of US $27,015,000 in principal amount of promissory notes issued by a subsidiary of INEX to a subsidiary of Elan Corporation, plc has been assigned to a group of U.S. and Canadian institutional investors. GMP Securities Ltd. acted as principal acquiring the notes from Elan’s subsidiary and resold them to the investors. INEX understands that a majority of the notes were acquired by U.S. institutions.
The notes were issued in April 2001 as INEX convertible notes of US$12 million and US$15 million, plus cumulative interest on each of 7% per year. These notes can be converted into INEX common shares at conversion rates of US$5.71 and US$5.07 per share, respectively. INEX recently received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange for the issuance of additional shares to provide for full coverage on the conversion of the notes, including all cumulative interest to the maturity date of April 27, 2007. The notes are convertible into a maximum of 7,342,614 common shares of INEX, being the maximum number issuable if converted just prior to maturity on April 27, 2007. Monksland Holdings, B.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Elan, originally acquired the notes as part of a joint venture established with INEX in 2001. The joint venture was terminated in 2003 after Elan determined it would exit the oncology marketplace.
About INEX
INEX is a Canadian biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing proprietary drugs and drug delivery systems to improve the treatment of cancer.
INEX announced in June 2003 that complete data from 119 patients treated in a pivotal phase II/III clinical trial that evaluated Onco TCS, the Company’s lead product, as a single-agent therapy for relapsed aggressive NHL were positive and support the filing of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). INEX completed the filing of the NDA on March 15, 2004.
The Company announced in January 2004 that it had entered into a strategic partnership with Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc. to develop and commercialize Onco TCS in North America.
INEX’s common shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “IEX”.
There are forward-looking statements contained herein that are not based on historical fact, including without limitation statements containing the words “believes,” “may,” “plans,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “expects,” and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, INEX’s stage of development, lack of product revenues, additional capital requirements, risks associated with the completion of clinical trials and obtaining regulatory approval to market INEX’s products, the ability to protect its intellectual property and dependence on collaborative partners. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments.
INEX investor contact:
Ian Mortimer
Senior Director, Investor Relations
Inex Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Tel: 604.419.3200
Email: info@inexpharm.com
Website: www.inexpharm.com
INEX media contact:
Miriam Zitner
James Hoggan & Associates Inc.
Tel: 604.739.7500
Email: mzitner@hoggan.com
