Adamis Pharmaceuticals Signs Agreement to Acquire 3M’s Technology

Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corporation recently announced it has entered into an agreement to exclusively license and, with additional payment, fully acquire 3M Company’s Taper Dry Powder Inhaler (DPI) technology under development for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). As a part of the agreement, Adamis will obtain worldwide rights to use this platform technology in all indications in the dry powder inhalation field. The unique design uses proprietary 3M technology to store active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) on a microstructured carrier tape. 3M will supply the drug delivery tape for the platform to Adamis under a separate supply agreement.

In its current stage of development, 3M Taper Dry Powder Inhaler combines patient-friendly design and active aerosolization to provide effective delivery of drug in a multi-dose DPI. Additional advantages of the current technology include:

• Can be used with single or combination drugs
• Virtually eliminates need for complex powder treatments or lactose in most formulations
• Holds up to 120 doses in convenient pocket-size design
• API dose range up to 1 milligram
• Protects against moisture ingress
• Utilizes patented 3M breath-actuated technology and has simple open, inhale, close functionality
• Integrates dose counter to ensure patients know how many doses remain

The Taper DPI inhaler was being developed by 3M Drug Delivery Systems to compete with other dry powder inhalers, such as GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Advair Diskus. According to IMS Health data, the global asthma and COPD prescription market is more than $34 billion and is averaging 7% growth per year. According to IMS, annual sales of the Advair Diskus are approximately $5 billion in the US and $8 billion globally for the indications of asthma and COPD. Upon completion of development and clinical activities required to obtain required regulatory approval, Adamis will seek to compete for a share of the Advair market with a branded generic version utilizing 3M’s Taper DPI technology.

Current data indicates this platform technology has the potential to be compatible with a wide range of formulations; Adamis intends to pursue a number of other important drug candidates, which if successfully developed, could substantially increase the potential value of this transaction to Adamis and its shareholders.

“There are a limited number of companies that have the capability to develop this type of novel inhalation drug delivery technology, and 3M is considered one of the leaders,” said Dr. Dennis J. Carlo, President and CEO of Adamis. “To date, there is no low-cost alternative to Advair. We believe that the exclusive license and acquisition of the 3M Taper DPI technology provides Adamis with a blockbuster opportunity in the branded generic asthma/COPD market, where even a small market share could generate a very large potential return on investment for Adamis shareholders. This technology strengthens the company’s respiratory product pipeline and has the potential to provide solid growth for Adamis for years to come, and I believe the acquisition of this pivotal technology could be a transforming event for our company. This acquisition is consistent with one of the objectives outlined in my recent letter to shareholders in a press release dated May 3, 2013.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Adamis made an initial payment to exclusively license the Taper technology through December 31, 2013, and upon payment of an additional amount before December 31, 2013, will fully acquire the Taper technology.

Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development and commercialization of specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology products in the therapeutic areas of respiratory disease, allergy, oncology, and immunology. For more information, visit www.adamispharmaceuticals.com.