MIAMI and NES-ZIONA,
Israel, Aug. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- OPKO Health,
Inc. (NYSE: OPK) ("OPKO") and PROLOR Biotech, Inc. (NYSE MKT: PBTH)
("PROLOR") jointly announced today the completion of the
acquisition of PROLOR by OPKO. Pursuant to the acquisition,
stockholders of PROLOR will receive 0.9951 shares of OPKO common
stock for each share of PROLOR common stock.
"We are pleased to complete the acquisition of PROLOR and
broaden our portfolio of market-transforming therapies in selected
specialty markets," commented Dr. Phillip
Frost, OPKO's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
"With the inclusion of PROLOR's pipeline, OPKO now has four
significant products in Phase III clinical development and a robust
pipeline of important therapeutic and unique diagnostic products in
various stages of development. PROLOR's drug product
candidates for growth hormone deficiency, hemophilia, obesity and
diabetes, along with its broadly applicable technology platforms
and efficient research and development center, are highly valuable
assets that complement OPKO's growth strategy."
"We are delighted to join forces with OPKO and combine the
complementary strengths of the two companies, building on our focus
of providing patients with next-generation therapies intended to
improve their health and quality of life," commented Abraham Havron, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
of PROLOR. "We believe that OPKO's plan to leverage our research
and development capabilities in Israel is good news for our employees and our
community, as we begin this exciting new chapter in our
evolution."
OPKO and PROLOR also announced today that the stockholders of
both OPKO and PROLOR approved all proposals presented at their
respective stockholder meetings held on August 28, 2013.
Barrington Research Associates, Inc., acted as the financial
advisor to OPKO in connection with the transaction. Jefferies
LLC acted as financial advisor to PROLOR in connection with the
transaction, and Oppenheimer & Co. provided a fairness opinion
to PROLOR's Strategic Alternatives Committee. Akerman
Senterfitt acted as U.S. legal advisor to OPKO and Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer Baratz acted as OPKO's
legal advisor in Israel. DLA Piper LLP (US) acted as legal
advisor to PROLOR's Strategic Alternatives Committee, Greenberg
Traurig, P.A. acted as U.S. legal advisor to PROLOR and Gornitzky
& Co. acted as PROLOR's legal advisor in Israel.
ABOUT OPKO HEALTH, INC.
OPKO is a multinational
biopharmaceutical and diagnostics company that seeks to establish
industry leading positions in large, rapidly growing markets by
leveraging its discovery, development and commercialization
expertise and novel and proprietary technologies. For more
information, visit http://www.opko.com.
ABOUT PROLOR BIOTECH, INC.
PROLOR is a clinical stage
biopharmaceutical company applying unique technologies, including
patented CTP technology, primarily to develop longer-acting
proprietary versions of already approved therapeutic proteins that
currently generate billions of dollars in annual global
sales. The CTP technology is applicable to virtually all
proteins. In addition to its long-acting version of human
growth hormone, which successfully completed a Phase II clinical
trial, PROLOR is developing long-acting versions of Factor VIIa and
Factor IX for hemophilia and a GLP-1/Glucagon dual receptor agonist
peptide for diabetes and obesity. For more information, visit
http://www.prolor-biotech.com.
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
This press release
contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined
under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA),
which statements may be identified by words such as "expects,"
"plans," "projects," "will," "may," "anticipates," "believes,"
"should," "intends," "estimates," and other words of similar
meaning, including statements regarding the benefits resulting from
the acquisition of PROLOR and statements regarding PROLOR's and
OPKO's products in development, as well as other non-historical
statements about our expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding
OPKO's and/or PROLOR's business, technologies and products,
financial condition, strategies or prospects. Many factors could
cause our actual activities or results to differ materially from
the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking
statements. These factors include those described in OPKO's and
PROLOR's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission; the
risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully; the
risk that any potential synergies from the transaction may not be
fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; the
risk that the class action lawsuits relating to the acquisition of
PROLOR may result in a significant monetary judgment against OPKO
and PROLOR or a significant settlement and may substantially divert
management's time and resources; new information arising out of
clinical trial results; the risk that the Phase III clinical trials
for hGH-CTP or any of OPKO's products in development may not be
completed on a timely basis or at all; the risk that earlier
clinical results may not be reproducible or indicative of future
results; the risk that the safety and/or efficacy results of
existing clinical trials will not support continued clinical
development; the risk that currently available products, as well as
products under development by others, may prove to be as or more
effective than PROLOR's or OPKO's products for the indications
being studied; as well as risks inherent in funding, developing and
obtaining regulatory approvals of new, commercially-viable and
competitive products and treatments. In addition, forward-looking
statements may also be adversely affected by general market
factors, competitive product development, product availability,
federal and state regulations and legislation, the regulatory
process for new products and indications, manufacturing issues that
may arise, and patent positions and litigation, among other
factors. The forward-looking statements contained in this press
release may become outdated over time. OPKO and PROLOR do not
assume any responsibility for updating any forward-looking
statements.
OPKO
CONTACT:
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PROLOR
CONTACT:
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PROLOR
MEDIA:
|
|
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Steve D. Rubin,
Executive
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Shai Novik,
President
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Barbara
Lindheim
|
Vice President -
Administration
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PROLOR Biotech,
Inc.
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BLL Partners,
LLC
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Juan F. Rodrigez,
Chief Financial Officer
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+1 866
644-7811
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+1 212
584-2276
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+1
305-575-4100
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shai@prolor-biotech.com
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blindheim@bllbiopartners.com
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OPKO Heath,
Inc.
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SOURCE OPKO Health, Inc.; PROLOR Biotech, Inc.