SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Amarantus
BioSciences, Inc. (OTCBB: AMBS), a biotechnology company developing
the MANF Program for Parkinson's Disease and other brain disorders,
today released a letter from President & CEO Gerald E. Commissiong to its shareholders:
OUR MISSION
Healing Patients – For those among us who
operate in this volatile, uncertain and challenging field of
development-stage biotechnology, it is critical that healing
patients always remains the top priority in each challenge we face.
From the moment I took the helm as Chief Executive of Amarantus
BioSciences, Inc. ("Amarantus", "Company", "we", or "us"), healing
patients with Parkinson's disease has been front and center
of my mission. In order to successfully translate the remarkable
scientific advances our researchers and collaborators are making in
the lab into F.D.A approved products improving lives throughout the
world, we must also take into consideration another key stakeholder
that supports the development and commercialization of new products
in the healthcare system - the shareholder. Over the course
of the last fifteen years, the many different companies that have
brought revolutionary life-saving treatments to market for oncology
patients worldwide, together, have definitively established that
improvements in the understanding of molecular biology in the lab
can lead to tremendous advances in treating deadly diseases in
patients – all the while leading to significant returns for
shareholders. I believe the dawn of a similar era is now at hand in
the development of new treatments for nervous-system disorders and
at the forefront of this period are advances in molecular
neuroscience centered on neurotrophic factors and astrocytes.
Armed with our PhenoGuard astrocyte cell lines (which led to the
discovery of the neurotrophic factor MANF), and our proprietary
Parkinson's cell culture (which was crucial to Teva
Pharmaceuticals' development of Rasagiline), we believe Amarantus
is poised to bring forward exciting new treatments for Parkinson's
centered on our flagship MANF Program. These treatments
could improve the livelihood of millions of patients who suffer
from brain disorders such as Parkinson's disease – while hopefully
returning significant value to Amarantus shareholders.
OUR HISTORY
Amarantus was founded to develop new treatments for
brain-related conditions based on technology that was originally
conceived at the US Government's National Institutes of
Health. Shortly after our incorporation in January 2008, we acquired certain key
intellectual property pioneered by our scientific founder enabling
our flagship MANF Program to develop new experimental treatments
for Parkinson's disease and other nervous-system disorders.
Independent researchers in Europe,
Asia and North America, as well as Company scientists
and collaborators, have worked tirelessly towards validating this
approach and characterizing the full potential of the MANF Program
by translating it towards the development of new treatments for an
increasing number of apoptosis-mediated disorders. Our strategy
going forward will be to continue to build strong relationships
with the key stakeholders within academia, not-for-profit
organizations, governments, reimbursement agencies, and industry
necessary to optimize our development programs for maximum impact
on the global healthcare system.
GOING PUBLIC
In May of 2011, we transformed from an angel-funded private
company into a publicly-traded company by way of a reverse merger.
At that time, we believed becoming a public company would
significantly advance our corporate development efforts by
leveraging the liquidity provided by our new public equity to raise
capital and advance our core programs, all the while allowing us to
acquire complementary technologies to create additional product
offerings around our MANF Program. Shortly after trading in our
shares began in June of 2011, market conditions were adversely
impacted by a crisis of U.S. Sovereign Debt that was precipitated
by political gridlock in Congress and cemented by a downgrade of
U.S. debt by the debt rating agency Standard & Poor's. In
November of 2011, in response to market turmoil caused primarily by
certain U.S.-listed Chinese companies fraudulently deceiving
investors, the S.E.C. made the regulations for companies that had
recently completed reverse mergers significantly more stringent,
possibly creating a negative perception of 'reverse merger'
companies. These events, which were completely outside of our
control, made developing broad investor interest in an early-stage
biotechnology company with limited trading history such as ours
significantly more challenging than originally anticipated.
Despite these challenges of the last year, we were able to
raise sufficient capital to fund our core programs with a small
group of investors who believed in our technology's potential.
Going forward, we are hopeful to raise capital in more efficient
ways from a broader group of investors and believe that the new
regulations surrounding the crowdfunding portion of the
J.O.B.S. bill recently signed into law could have a significant
positive impact on our fundraising endeavors. In order to position
ourselves to excel in this emergent fundraising environment for
public companies, management of Amarantus intends to engage more
directly with investors over the course of the next several months
to increase awareness of our programs and gain broader acceptance
of our business plan from the global investment community.
CORPORATE DEVELOPMENTS
On May 30, 2011, we entered
into a letter agreements regarding Intellectual Properties
Licensing and Collaboration Arrangements with Generex Biotechnology
Corporation ("Generex", OTCBB: GNBT). Under the letter
agreements, Generex will grant to us a non-exclusive worldwide
license for the clinical and regulatory development and
commercialization of our programs in combination with the Generex
Technologies, excluding the field of diabetes treatment. We
are continuing to work towards completing that transaction as we
believe there is significant value in combining their RapidMist®
technology with our current and future pipeline. In January of this
year, we entered into a licensing agreement with Power3 Medical
Products, Inc. ("Power3", OTCBB: PWRM)) to acquire certain rights
to a blood test capable of reliably diagnosing patients who have
Parkinson's disease in order to develop a revenue generating
product that would further enable our lead Parkinson's treatment
program. On March 15, 2012, Power3
declared bankruptcy and we are currently working with the
bankruptcy trustee to assess our rights and options relating to the
license and the related intellectual property. Our intent is to
acquire outright the assets relevant to our MANF Program and fund
their further development. Most recently, on April 30th, 2012 we executed a letter of intent
with Rainbow Biosciences ("Rainbow", OTCBB: RBCC) to provide
funding towards one or more of our Parkinson's programs within 60
days. We are working with Rainbow to determine which program is
most suitable for the contemplated funding and what the best
structure of the collaboration would be for both parties. We will
continue to inform the marketplace on the progress of these
transactions and how they relate to the overall business of
developing our MANF Program to deliver new treatments to
patients.
MILESTONES
In the last year the Company has achieved the following
important milestones:
- Entered the public markets and significantly expanded our
shareholder base;
- Confirmed efficacy of our MANF Program in Parkinson's
disease;
- Received grant funding to initiate our MANF Program in
Traumatic Brain Injury.
The most critical milestones for us to achieve in the next 12
months are:
- Raising sufficient capital to efficiently fund our
therapeutic and diagnostic programs;
- Advancing our various product development programs to key
value inflexion milestones;
- Finalizing the business development transactions executed
over the past 12 months;
- Recruiting seasoned product development expertise in the
areas of biopharmaceutical and diagnostic product
development;
- Listing our common stock on a national stock
exchange.
CLOSING REMARKS
In closing, we are dedicated towards our mission of improving
the health of patients worldwide who suffer from Parkinson's
disease and other neurological disorders. My team is focused on
overcoming the obstacles we face and we are excited about our
prospects for the future. I would like to personally thank
each of our shareholders for your support and belief in Amarantus
over the last year. I strongly believe that your continued support
will allow us to ultimately improve the lives of millions worldwide
suffering from Parkinson's disease and apoptosis-mediated
conditions, while hopefully delivering significant value back to
our shareholders. I am excited to lead Amarantus as we take on
these challenges and will continue to work with great passion to
lead us towards success.
Sincerest Regards,
Gerald Commissiong
Chief Executive
About MANF (Mesencephalic-Astrocyte-derived
Neurotrophic Factor)
MANF (Mesencephalic-Astrocyte-derived Neurotrophic Factor) is a
protein that corrects protein misfolding, one of the major causes
of apoptosis (cell death). The lead MANF development effort is
centered on a therapy for Parkinson's disease, currently funded by
a research grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's
Research. A secondary MANF development effort is centered on
developing new therapies to treat Traumatic Brain Injury and is
currently funded by Brewer Sports International.
About Amarantus BioSciences, Inc.
Amarantus BioSciences, Inc. is a California-based development-stage
biotechnology company founded in January
2008. We have focused on developing certain biologics
surrounding the intellectual property and proprietary
technologies we own to treat Parkinson's disease and other
human diseases. We own the intellectual property rights to a
therapeutic protein known as Mesencephalic-Astrocyte-derived
Neurotrophic Factor ("MANF"). For further information please visit
www.amarantus.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements
about the possible benefits of MANF therapeutic applications and/or
advantages presented by Amarantus' PhenoGuard technology, as well
as statements about expectations, plans and prospects of the
development of Amarantus' new product candidates. These
forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks,
uncertainties and assumptions, including the risks that the
anticipated benefits of the therapeutic drug candidates or
discovery platforms, as well as the risks, uncertainties and
assumptions relating to the development of Amarantus' new product
candidates, including those identified under "Risk Factors" in
Amarantus' most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in other filings Amarantus
periodically makes with the SEC. Actual results may differ
materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking
statements Amarantus does not undertake to update any of these
forward-looking statements to reflect a change in its views or
events or circumstances that occur after the date of this
presentation.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Amarantus BioSciences, Inc.
Gerald E. Commissiong
pr@amarantus.com
408.737.2734 x 102
SOURCE Amarantus BioSciences, Inc.