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Destiny Pharma plc
("Destiny Pharma" or "the Company")
Destiny Pharma Announces Regional Framework Development and Commercialisation Agreement with China Medical Systems
Brighton, United Kingdom - 4 September 2017 - Destiny Pharma (AIM: DEST), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel anti-microbial drugs, which address the global problem of anti-microbial resistance (AMR) , is pleased to announce it has entered into a framework development and commercialisation collaboration agreement with China Medical System Holdings Ltd ("CMS") (867:HK).
Destiny Pharma has entered into a binding framework agreement detailing the collaboration with a wholly-owned subsidiary of CMS who will get full rights in China and certain other Asian countries (excluding Japan) to enable the development and commercialisation of Destiny Pharma's pipeline in the region. Under the collaboration, CMS will make a £3 million equity investment on the finalisation of the detailed agreement under which the parties will agree to work together in the further research and development of the Destiny Pharma anti-infective portfolio. It is planned that the parties will coordinate and share data from their respective studies and Destiny Pharma will benefit from the investment CMS will make in the assets' development in China. Once formalised, Destiny Pharma will also be able to receive future milestones based on the achievement of sales targets by CMS and may also make a manufacturing margin on any product Destiny Pharma supplies. In addition, A&B (HK) Company Ltd ("A&B"), a company with a controlling shareholder in common with CMS, has invested £3 million in a placing of new ordinary shares in Destiny Pharma, announced today, that raised gross proceeds of £15.3m (see separate announcement).
Neil Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Destiny Pharma, commented:
"We are pleased to announce this framework agreement with a large, expert company such as China Medical Systems. Such collaborations are in line with our strategy and confirm the potential in our pipeline. We anticipate that this partnership will accelerate the development of assets from our proprietary XF drug platform in China and certain other Asian markets whilst permitting Destiny Pharma to retain its focus on its key target markets in the US and the EU."
Mr Lam Kong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CMS, said:
"We are pleased at the opportunity to work with Destiny Pharma, coordinating and sharing the data that we both generate. Our equity investment in the Company underpins our commitment to this partnership. We look forward to collaborating closely."
For further information, please contact:
Destiny Pharma
Neil Clark, CEO
Simon Sacerdoti, CFO
pressoffice@destinypharma.com
+44 (0)1273 704 440
FTI Consulting
Simon Conway / Victoria Foster Mitchell / Hanna Skeppner
destinypharma@fticonsulting.com
+44 (0) 20 3727 1000
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe
Philip Davies / Will Goode, Corporate Finance
pdavies@cantor.co.uk
+44 (0)20 7894 8337
About Destiny Pharma
Destiny Pharma is an established, clinical stage, innovative biotechnology company focused on the development of novel medicines that represent a new approach to the treatment of infectious disease. These potential new medicines are being developed to address the need for new drugs for the prevention and treatment of life-threatening infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, often referred to as "superbugs". Tackling anti-microbial resistance has become a global imperative recognised by the WHO and the United Nations, as well as the G7 and the G20 countries. For further information, please visit https://www.destinypharma.com
About China Medical System Holdings Limited
CMS is a specialty pharmaceutical company based in China, focusing on marketing, promotion and sales of prescription drugs and other medicinal products to all therapeutic departments in hospitals nation-wide. CMS builds up its product portfolio for its target markets by asset acquisition, equity investment, licensing-in and distribution partnership on the global basis as well as in-house R&D. It is publicly traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (867.HK) with a market capitalisation of approximately HK$35.82 billion (c. £3.5 billion) as at 31 August 2017.
Forward-looking statements
This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates", "plans", "projects", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will" or "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this announcement and include statements regarding the directors' current intentions, beliefs or expectations concerning, among other things, the Company's results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the Company's markets.
Forward-looking statements may and often do differ materially from actual results. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement are based on certain factors and assumptions, including the directors' current view with respect to future events and are subject to risks relating to future events and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Company's operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. While the directors consider these assumptions to be reasonable based upon information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Save as required by law or by the AIM Rules for Companies, neither the Company nor Cantor Fitzgerald Europe undertakes any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to any forward-looking statements in this announcement that may occur due to any change in the directors' expectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this announcement.