Special Committee of AnorMED Board Rejects Compromise Slate of 7 Members
12 April 2006 - 8:58PM
PR Newswire (US)
VANCOUVER, April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AnorMED Inc. (TSX:
AOM; AMEX:AOM) announces that the Special Committee of AnorMED
Board Rejects Compromise Slate of 7 Members AnorMED announces that
its Special Committee of the Board of Directors, has resolved not
to accept the proposal for a compromise in the proxy contest made
by Dr. Michael Abrams, AnorMED's Chief Executive Officer, and which
was accepted by Dr. Felix Baker, on behalf of the dissident
shareholders. In the view of the Special Committee of the Board,
the slate proposed as a compromise is not in the best interests of
the Corporation as it would not contain any independent directors
with any institutional knowledge of the Company, and this leads to
an unacceptable risk that the commercialization of MOZOBIL(TM),
AnorMED's lead product, will be delayed. MOZOBIL is currently in
phase 3 development for the treatment of certain cancer patients
undergoing stem cell transplantation. Mr. David Scott, Board
Chairmen said, "The most crucial objective facing AnorMED is the
prompt and successful commercialization of MOZOBIL. The ability of
AnorMED to complete the work necessary to realize this goal has
been placed in serious jeopardy by the attempt initiated by Dr.
Baker to obtain control of AnorMED. Because of Dr. Baker's untimely
actions, our recruitment of necessary personnel and our ability to
enter into partnerships necessary for a company of our size to
develop and commercialize a phase 3 product have been hindered and
will be further compromised by a wholesale change in Board
leadership." The Special Committee has been consistently attempting
to work towards solutions that are in the best interests of AnorMED
and its shareholders, and that are acceptable to the dissident
shareholders. One of the guiding principles in this respect has
been the need for some meaningful and independent continuity
following the time that the composition of the board of directors
changes. These attempts have been frustrated by Dr. Baker's
continued refusal to consider any compromise solution that contains
any existing board members, other than himself and Dr. Abrams. Our
request to allow Dr. Baker to select two other members of the
current Board to provide continuity, with a commitment that those
persons would agree to serve only for a transition period until the
2007 annual meeting, was refused by Dr. Baker. "Fair resolution of
our two substantially different visions for AnorMED can and should
only be the prerogative of our shareholders," said Mr. Scott. "We
believe that our slate provides a better future for MOZOBIL and for
AnorMED. We look forward to placing this difficult chapter behind
us and to proceeding with the important work before us. Upon
successful election, the AnorMED Nominee Directors (Blue Proxy)
will immediately, work towards completing one of the substantial
European licensing deals on the table or seek a strategic partner,"
added Mr. Scott. AnorMED shareholders are recommended to vote only
their BLUE AnorMED proxy in favour of the AnorMED Slate. Proxies
must be returned by April 19, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. Vancouver time for
your vote to count. The AnorMED Management Proxy Circular, which
has been mailed to shareholders and filed with regulators, is
available on the Company website (http://www.anormed.com/) and
SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com/. For more information call Georgeson
Shareholder, AnorMED's proxy solicitor at their North American toll
free number 1-866-267-8910, or collect at 416-642-7069. If
shareholders previously returned a Yellow Dissident Proxy, they
have every legal right to change their vote, by simply signing,
dating and returning a Blue proxy, as it is only the later dated
proxy that will be counted. AnorMED is a chemistry-based
biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and
commercialization of new therapeutic products in the areas of
hematology, HIV and oncology. The Company has a product in Phase
III development, a product in Phase II development and a research
program focused on a novel class of compounds that target specific
chemokine receptors known to be involved in a variety of diseases
including HIV. Additional information on AnorMED Inc. is available
on the Company's website http://www.anormed.com/. Note: Certain of
the statements contained in this press release may contain
forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within
the meaning of applicable securities laws, including the Ontario
Securities Act, Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements
or information regarding strategy, future operations, future
financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects and
plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements.
The words "anticipates, "believes", "budgets", "could",
"estimates", "expects," "forecasts", "intends", "may", "plans",
"projects", "schedule", "should", "will", "would" and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements or
information, although not all forward- looking statements or
information contain these identifying words. Plans, intentions or
expectations disclosed in any forward-looking statements or
information should not be read as guarantees of future results or
events, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether
or the times at or by which such results or events will be
achieved. Forward-looking statements or information involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause
the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or
industry results, to be materially different from any future
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward- looking statements or information. Investors are referred
to the discussion of such risks, uncertainties and other factors in
AnorMED's Final Short Form Prospectus dated December 1, 2005 filed
on SEDAR with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and in
Exhibit 99.1 to AnorMED's Report on Form 6-K filed with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission on December 23, 2005. Except as
required by law, AnorMED expressly disclaims any intention and
undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements
or information as conditions change. For further information
Company Contact: David Scott, MBA Chairman of the Board and
Director AnorMED Inc. Tel: 604-408-9021 DATASOURCE: AnorMED Inc.
CONTACT: Company Contact: David Scott, MBA, Chairman of the Board
and Director, AnorMED Inc., Tel: (604) 408-9021
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