Sydney, Sep 6, 2006 (ABN Newswire) - Life Therapeutics (ASX: LFE) will supply Cangene Corporation with Anti-Anthrax plasma for Cangene to produce an Anti-Anthrax hyperimmune for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This is a US$143 million project for Cangene under Project BioShield to produce 10,000 doses of anthrax immune globulin (AIG) to be made available for treating inhalational anthrax. Under the contract Cangene will provide AIG to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile until 2009.
"Once again this project shows that Life Therapeutics is at the forefront of the plasma collection business," said Dr. Hari Nair, CEO and President of Life Therapeutics. "Assisting with this important area of BioDefense until 2009 will provide another long-term, sustainable product line for us."
AIG is a hyperimmune used in treating inhalation anthrax, which is an acute infectious disease caused by inhaling spores of the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. It can also be acquired through the skin or by ingestion and the disease has a high fatality rate.
Life Therapeutics is an international company that specializes in niche therapeutic hyperimmune products. It has 14 operational plasma collection centers and signed leases for a further 2 centers around the US. The Company has considerable experience recruiting and collecting hard to find hyperimmune plasma for IND studies and clinical trials. Life Therapeutics has 500 employees, located in the United States and 14 plasma donor centers in eight American States. It has an established U.S. American Depositary Receipt (ADR) Level I program, which enables trading in Life Therapeutics shares by U.S. based investors. The company's divisions are all headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
