Biomira, Merck amend Stimuvax agreement

The amended agreements restructure the agreements originally signed in 2001, and are based upon the letter of intent signed in January 2006.

Under the terms of the restated agreements, Merck will have worldwide marketing rights to and will be entirely responsible for the further clinical development of Stimuvax. Biomira is entitled to development and sales-based milestone payments and a royalty on net sales. Biomira retains responsibility for the manufacture of Stimuvax, including process development and scale-up for commercial manufacturing.

Merck will exclusively purchase Stimuvax from Biomira; with respect to purchases for commercial sales, the purchase price will be subtracted from Biomira’s royalty. The restated agreements provide Biomira with revised payments based on certain milestones related to manufacturing scale-up and process transfer. Biomira will also receive a payment of $2.5 million upon clearance of the transaction with the US anti-trust authorities.

Stimuvax is an innovative investigational therapeutic cancer vaccine, designed to induce an immune response to cancer cells that express MUC1, a protein antigen widely expressed on common cancers. Merck KGaA is currently conducting a global Phase III trial of Stimuvax in patients with unresectable Stage III non-small cell lung cancer.

Based on the terms of the restated and amended supply and collaboration agreements with Merck announced herein, Biomira is updating its prior financial guidance. The restated agreements provide for near-term payments which Biomira believes are sufficient to fund its operations at current levels for approximately an additional six months. Biomira currently anticipates receiving a substantial portion of these milestones before the end of 2008. As a result, the company believes that it currently has sufficient cash resources to last through the end of fiscal 2008.