Source : BusinessWire

AVANIR Pharmaceuticals Completes Sale Of FazaClo

Le 06/08/2007

AVANIR Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVNR) today announced that it has
completed the sale of currently marketed, antipsychotic drug
FazaClo(R) (clozapine, USP) to Azur Pharma, a specialty pharmaceutical
company headquartered in Ireland. Upon close of the transaction AVANIR
received an upfront payment of $42 million, plus an additional $1.9
million in working capital adjustments. Under the terms of the
agreement, previously announced on July 3, 2007, AVANIR could receive
up to an additional $10 million in payments in 2009 contingent upon
certain regulatory conditions, and up to $2 million in royalties,
based on 3% of annualized net product revenues in excess of $17
million.


AVANIR has allocated $11 million in payments to pay down a portion
of its outstanding debt, which will be reflected on the Company's
balance sheet for the year ending September 30, 2007. The Company
believes that the net payments from the sale of FazaClo, plus the
cash, cash equivalents and unrestricted investments in securities at
June 30, 2007 will be sufficient to finance operating expenses through
the end of the next fiscal year, including the initiation of the
planned confirmatory Phase III clinical trial of Zenvia(TM) in
patients with involuntary emotional expression disorder (IEED),
otherwise known as pseudobulbar affect (PBA).


"The rapid close of this transaction is a testament to our team's
ability to execute on our strategic objective of becoming a
late-stage, clinical development company dedicated to improving
treatments for central nervous system conditions," said Keith Katkin,
AVANIR's President and CEO. "We remain focused on the clinical
development of our core asset, Zenvia, where we believe we can
generate the most shareholder value."


Also under terms of the agreement, Azur Pharma has assumed
AVANIR's future earn-out obligations to the prior owner of Alamo
Pharmaceuticals payable upon the achievement of certain sales
milestones after the closing of the transaction. AVANIR will finalize
the transfer of FazaClo business operations to Azur Pharma in the
coming months.


About AVANIR


AVANIR Pharmaceuticals is focused on developing, acquiring and
commercializing novel therapeutic products for the treatment of
chronic diseases. AVANIR's products and product candidates address
therapeutic markets that include the central nervous system (CNS),
inflammation and infectious diseases. AVANIR's lead product candidate
Zenvia is being developed for the treatment of IEED, also known as
pseudobulbar affect (PBA), and is the subject of an approvable letter
from the FDA for that indication. Additionally, AVANIR announced
meeting all primary endpoints in a recently completed Phase III
clinical trial with Zenvia in patients with diabetic peripheral
neuropathic (DPN) pain. AVANIR has also licensed a compound to
Novartis International Pharmaceutical Ltd. for the treatment of
inflammatory disease. AVANIR's infectious disease drug candidate,
AVP-21D9, is a human monoclonal antibody in pre-clinical development
for the treatment of anthrax with funding to date from an NIH/NIAID
grant. The Company's first commercialized product, Abreva(R), is
marketed in North America by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare and
is the leading over-the-counter product for the treatment of cold
sores. Further information about AVANIR can be found at
www.avanir.com.


Forward Looking Statements


Statements in this press release that are not historical facts,
including statements that are preceded by, followed by, or that
include such words as "estimate," "intend," "anticipate," "believe,"
"plan," "goal," "expect," or similar statements, are forward-looking
statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from the future
results expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no
absolute assurance that the proceeds received by the Company from the
sale of the Company's FazaClo operations, together with the Company's
other available funds, will be sufficient to fund the Company's
operations as currently anticipated, or that the Company will be able
to commence and complete planned clinical trials within the projected
time periods. Risks and uncertainties affecting the Company's
financial condition and operations also include the risks set forth in
AVANIR's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and from time-to-time in other
publicly available information regarding the Company. Copies of this
information are available from AVANIR upon request. AVANIR disclaims
any intent to update these forward-looking statements.


To be included on AVANIR's e-mail alert list; click on the link
below or visit AVANIR's website:
http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=958&to=ea&s=0


Reedland Capital Partners, an Institutional Division of Financial
West Group, served as the financial advisor to AVANIR in the
transaction.


Contact :

Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Inc.
Jody Cain/Brandi Floberg, 310-691-7100
jcain@lhai.com
bfloberg@lhai.com

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