PlasmaTech Biopharmaceuticals Announces Major Acquisition

PlasmaTech Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. recently announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Abeona Therapeutics, a company engaged in the development and commercialization of therapies for patients with lysosomal storage diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, the company will issue to Abeona Therapeutic members a total of 3,979,761 common shares upon closing of the transaction, and up to an additional $9 million in performance milestones, in common stock or cash, at the Company’s option.

“We believe this acquisition represents an exciting cornerstone of our strategy to build a world class cell and gene therapy company focused on rare diseases,” noted Steven H. Rouhandeh, PlasmaTech’s Executive Chairman. “Abeona’s programs in MPS IIIB & IIIA address a compelling unmet medical need with breakthrough technology and fundamental core competencies to develop products and accelerate value for patients and shareholders. This acquisition will accelerate development and internationalization of both clinical programs due to increased access to capital and organizational capabilities. Importantly, the Abeona operating and scientific teams will remain intact, and we believe Tim Miller’s unique blend of experience and capabilities make him ideal to move the company forward toward our goal of becoming a leader in rare diseases. Additionally, Abeona recently closed on $4.8 million in financing from leading Sanfilippo Foundations worldwide, and have an additional $1 million commitment for manufacturing.”

In connection with the acquisition, Tim Miller, PhD, President & CEO of Abeona, will succeed Scott Schorer. “Tim Miller brings significant experience and leadership in developing and commercializing novel cell and gene therapies,” added Mr. Rouhandeh. “We want to thank Scott Schorer for his service as PlasmaTech’s Chief Executive Officer, and look forward to his continued contributions to the Alpha-1 program as a consultant to the company.”

“We are excited about building the future together, and believe this is just the first of many steps to building a comprehensive product pipeline in the rare disease space. PlasmaTech is currently developing a new generation plasma processing technology which enables and validates orphan proteins requiring periodic treatments,” noted Dr. Tim Miller. “We will continue to build on these strengths and capabilities, while executing on our world class gene therapy platform to address pressing rare diseases, such as Sanfilippo syndrome.”

To learn more about Abeona, please click on the following link for a Web Interview with Tim Miller: https://vimeo.com/126837840.

Abeona Therapeutics is developing gene therapies for patients with rare genetic diseases, with initial therapies being developed for patients with Sanfilippo syndromes (MPS III). The company was formed in early 2013 to help focus the search for a cure for Sanfilippo Syndrome and provide a unifying voice between patient advocate groups, researchers, clinicians and investors.

The global market for drugs derived from human blood plasma fractionation is currently estimated to be greater than $15 billion and growing at a rate close to 10% annually. Despite this significant market opportunity, limited innovation in fractionation technology has occurred in decades. PTBI has developed and patented a new extraction process for plasma biologics that may fundamentally change the economics of blood plasma fractionation, and is expected to make possible the extraction of several additional therapeutically useful plasma proteins. The company believes that PlasmaTech’s proprietary fractionation process is expected to significantly enhance yields of specific high-value proteins, including alpha-1 antitrypsin, expanding market opportunities while greatly enhancing margins. The company believes that PlasmaTech’s lead product opportunity, alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), will offer a potentially high revenue, short time-to-market respiratory product for treatment of inherited COPD, or alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), among other indications. In addition, the SDF process is expected to produce higher yields of other high-value proteins with significant therapeutic benefit.

PlasmaTech is a biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing protein biologic therapies and oncology supportive care products. Exploiting two proprietary platforms, Salt Diafiltration (SDF) Process and Polymer Hydrogel Technology (PHT), PlasmaTech is active in the development and commercialization of human plasma-derived therapeutics, including its proprietary alpha-1 protease inhibitor, SDF Alpha. For more information, visit www.plasmatechbio.com.