Cytogen Sells Manufacturing Facilities to Bard BioPharma

As part of its recently announced corporate overhaul, Cytogen Corp. (Princeton, NJ), has sold a sizable piece of its manufacturing capacity to Bard BioPharma L.P., a subsidiary of Purdue Pharma L.P. (Norwalk, CT) for $4 million. The sale will allow Cytogen to dramatically reduce its cost of goods. The company also signed a three-year agreement under which two of Cytogen's products, ProstaScint and OncoScint, would continue to be manufactured by Cytogen at its former research and development facility.

"This agreement, which signals virtual completion of the company's turnaround plan, is a strong finish to Cytogen's 1998 restructuring efforts," said Cytogen President and CEO H. Joseph Reiser. "It means we can close 1998 on a high note and open 1999 more financially stable and strategically focused. This agreement will impact our business in three important areas: help us exit non-core operations, provide an infusion of new capital and, through its resulting outsourcing of manufacturing, reduce our cost of goods. We also anticipate that Cytogen will be profitable for the first quarter of 1999 as a result of this transaction and other revenues. With this turnaround closure, Cytogen can hit the ground running on our 1999 priorities - growth, profitability and shareholder value."

The sale also supports Cytogen's strategic realignment, as it plans to phase out the third-party manufacturing operations it had performed at the manufacturing facility. Manufacturing—of its own products or third-party contract work—never evolved as a core business for Cytogen, which will now focus on other strategic operations such as product marketing.

Other aspects of Cytogen's restructuring include:

• Closure or sale of R&D programs with no demonstrated potential for near-term economic returns, for example Cytogen's Cellcor and Targon subsidiaries. Cytogen has also and curtailed basic research.
• Significant, strategic expense reductions. In addition to closing non-core developmental programs, the company reduced its workforce and now outsources its manufacturing operations.
• Arranged financing approaches supporting the company's longer-term financial needs
• Improved marketing partnerships

Paul Goldenheim, Purdue and Associated Companies International Director, Research and Product Development, said, "We are very excited about this acquisition, which will enable us to greatly expand our discovery and development efforts in biologics and small molecules, allow us to capitalize on in-house patents and technologies, and provide a GMP facility for the manufacture of biological products. This facility will contribute significantly to our future growth."

For more information: Donald Crane, Cytogen Corp. 600 College Rd. East, Princeton, NJ 08540. Tel: 609-520-3062.