Cangene eliminated from ARS contract

Cangene Corporation today reports that it has been advised by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority ("BARDA"), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that Cangene has been eliminated from the competitive range with respect to its bid on a contract for developing a treatment for acute radiation syndrome ("ARS"). Cangene had originally submitted a response to a request for proposal ("RFP") for a development and supply contract for an ARS treatment that was issued by BARDA in 2008, and had anticipated a possible contract award later that year. BARDA subsequently withdrew the original RFP in January of 2009 and issued a modified RFP for a development-only contract in March 2009. This RFP specified a one-year base contract, with four, one-year extension options. Cangene submitted its new proposal to this RFP in May 2009. This proposal was linked to an agreement Cangene had concurrently signed with Maxygen, Inc. (Nasdaq(R): MAXY) giving Cangene an exclusive option to acquire an exclusive licence to Maxygen's protein therapeutic called MAXY-G34 for treating ARS. Cangene paid an upfront fee of US$0.5 million for this option and intended to exercise it in the event that BARDA issued a contract that met certain criteria.

"While we believed we had submitted a good proposal and continued to have productive discussions with BARDA, RFPs of this type are complex and the outcome is never certain. It is good to have a final decision - we can now remove this as a focus and concentrate our government contracts team on other opportunities," said Dr. John Langstaff, Cangene's president and CEO.