Circe Biomedical Agrees to Purchase Company from ICN Pharmaceuticals; Will Launch Phase III Trials for Liver Support System.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2002

Circe Biomedical announced today that its management team has agreed to terms leading to the purchase of company from ICN Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: ICN) of Costa Mesa, CA.

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed and are subject to certain closing conditions.

Circe plans to launch Phase III trials for its lead product, the HepatAssist Liver Support System, as soon as it secures additional funding.

"This is a unique opportunity for a strategic buyer or for a venture investor," said Elizabeth Chen, president and CEO.

"A new financial or strategic investor is looking at a late-stage opportunity with the benefit of 20 years and more than $150 million invested in research and development."

Chen said she is optimistic about finding a buyer or investor as the lead product "is the most clinically advanced in the field of liver support therapies." She estimated that the ultimate market for the technology is over $2.5 billion per year.

Circe's liver support system integrates viable liver cells and biocompatible membranes into an extra-corporeal system that mimics the function of a liver. This system is designed to bridge acute liver failure patients to transplantation or to recovery.

Chen said that Circe Biomedical recently completed a Phase II/III trial involving 171 acute liver failure patients in 19 liver transplant centers in the United States and in Europe.

Acute liver failure affects approximately 1,500 patients per year in the U.S. The primary causes are liver injury due to hepatotoxic drugs or to viral infection; the average age of those affected is 34. Without transplantation, nearly 70 percent die within 30 days of diagnosis.

"Physicians treating acute liver failure patients have very few options today. Improvement in survival for these patients is the goal of this next clinical trial."

Circe Biomedical (www.circebio.com) develops therapeutic cell systems that mimic the function of failed organs to treat life-threatening diseases. Circe is based in Lexington, MA.