Cangene Announces Agreement to Sell U.S. Plasma Centres

Transaction Supports Refocused Specialty Biopharmaceutical Strategy

TSX: CNJ

Readers are referred to the cautionary notes regarding Forward-looking Information at the end of this release.

WINNIPEG, Sept. 17, 2012 /CNW/ - Cangene Corporation (Cangene) today announces that its wholly owned subsidiary, Cangene Plasma Resources, Inc. has entered into an agreement for the sale of its three U.S. based plasma centres to Grifols, through wholly owned Grifols subsidiary, Biomat USA, Inc. (Biomat USA). The transaction is expected to close in October, 2012 and is subject to customary closing conditions.  The Company plans to reinvest the net sale proceeds in research and development programs and funding in-licensing opportunities.

Cangene will retain its Winnipeg-based plasma centre which is focused on collecting specialty plasma and plans to source its additional plasma needs from the open market, including through a supply agreement with Grifols.

John A. Sedor, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cangene, said "The sale of our U.S. plasma centres is consistent with our refocused specialty biopharmaceutical strategy. With the previously announced cancellation of the IGIV program, we believe it makes more sense to source plasma primarily from the open market, rather than making the significant investment required to achieve scale and become a low-cost competitor in the highly competitive U.S. plasma collection industry.  We believe that Cangene is now in a position of strength in the specialty biopharmaceutical space to expand the depth of its pipeline."

"Grifols is committed to ensuring a safe, reliable and consistent supply of source plasma for production of life-saving medicines," said Shinji Wada, President of Grifols Plasma Operations. "The acquisition of these centers further strengthens our existing plasma donation platform across the U.S. and reinforces our commitment to patients who depend on Grifols plasma-derived therapies". Currently, Grifols is a world-leader in plasma collection, with a network of 147 plasma donation centers in the United States that will enable the company to collect more than 6.5 million liters each year.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Cangene Corporation
Cangene Corporation (TSX: CNJ), headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada, is one of the nation's oldest and largest biopharmaceutical companies. It is focused on the development and commercialization of hospital and oncology clinic based therapeutics. Cangene's products are sold worldwide and include products that have been accepted into the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile. Cangene has employees in three locations across North America. It operates manufacturing facilities in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Baltimore, Maryland (through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cangene bioPharma, Inc.) where it produces its own products and undertakes contract manufacturing for a number of customers. For more information about Cangene, visit the Company's website at www.cangene.com.

About Grifols
Grifols is a Spanish group, specializing in the hospital-pharmaceutical sector, and with a presence in over 100 countries. Since 2006, Grifols ordinary (Class A) shares have been listed on the Spanish Continuous Market and it has been included in the Ibex-35 (GRF) since 2008. Since 2011, non-voting Grifols shares (Class B) have also been listed on the Spanish Continuous Market (GRF.P) and on the NASDAQ (GRFS) via ADRs (American Depositary Receipts). Grifols has become the world's third largest producer of plasma derivatives by capacity following the recent purchase of Talecris and is the sector's largest European company, with a balanced and diverse range of products. The group will strengthen its position within the industry as a vertically integrated company, on the basis of its completed and additional planned investments. In terms of raw material, Grifols is the leading plasma collection company, with supplies assured via its network of 147 plasmapheresis centers in the United States. Its production plants in Spain and the United States ensure that it has the fractionation capacity to satisfy rising demand. Geographic diversification is one of the key elements of the group's strategy for growth, and it has a major presence in the United States, Canada and Europe.  For more information about Biomat USA or Grifols, please visit www.grifols.com.

Cautionary Note regarding Forward-Looking Information
This document contains forward-looking statements about the Corporation, including its business operations, strategy, and expected financial performance and condition. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "will", "believes", "estimates", or negative versions thereof, and similar expressions. In addition, any statement that may be made concerning future financial performance (including revenues, earnings or growth rates), ongoing business strategies or prospects, future use, safety and efficacy of unapproved products or unapproved uses of products, and possible future action by the Corporation are also forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events and are inherently subject to, among other things, risks, uncertainties and assumptions about the Corporation, economic factors and the biopharmaceutical industry generally. They are not guarantees of future performance. Actual events and results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements made by the Corporation due to, but not limited to, important factors such as sales levels; fluctuations in operating results; the Corporation's reliance on a small number of customers including government organizations; the demand for new products and the impact of competitive products, service and pricing; the availability and cost of raw materials, and in particular, the cost, availability and antibody concentration in plasma; progress and cost of clinical trials; costs and possible development delays resulting from use of legal, regulatory or legislative strategies by the Company's competitors; uncertainty related to intellectual property protection and potential costs associated with its defence as well as general economic, political and market factors in North America and internationally; interest and foreign exchange rates; business competition; technological change; changes in government action, policies or regulations; decisions by Health Canada, the United States Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory authorities regarding whether and when to approve drug applications that have been or may be filed, as well as their decisions regarding labeling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of drug candidates; unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings; catastrophic events; the Corporation's ability to complete strategic transactions; and other factors beyond the control of management.

The reader is cautioned that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive and there may be other factors listed in other filings with securities regulators, including factors set out under "Risk and Uncertainties" in the Corporation's Management Discussion and Analysis, which, along with other filings, is available for review at www.sedar.com. The reader is also cautioned to consider these and other factors carefully and not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Other than as specifically required by applicable law, the Corporation has no intention to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE: Cangene Corporation

Francis J. St.Hilaire
Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary
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Email: [email protected]