Abraxis BioScience Announces Licensing Agreement with Biocon Limited for the Commercialization of ABRAXANE in India

  
    
  
  
    
      Abraxis BioScience, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABBI), an integrated, global 
      biopharmaceutical company, today announced a licensing agreement with 
      Biocon Limited, India’s leading biotechnology 
      company, for the commercialization of ABRAXANE® 
      (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) 
      (albumin-bound) in India. Under the terms of the agreement, Biocon will 
      also have the right to market ABRAXANE in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri 
      Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and certain other 
      South Asian and Persian Gulf countries. As part of this agreement, 
      Abraxis will receive royalties from Biocon based on net sales of 
      ABRAXANE in these countries.
    
    
      “This agreement is an important step in the 
      development of a global commercialization framework that incorporates 
      unique country-by-country needs,” said Bruce 
      Wendel, executive vice president, Corporate Development for Abraxis 
      BioScience. “Importantly, we are pleased that 
      this partnership with Biocon affords us the opportunity to bring 
      ABRAXANE, an important advance in chemotherapy, to these countries while 
      broadening our existing relationship with Biocon, one of the leading 
      biotechnology companies in India.”
    
    
      In July 2007, Abraxis submitted to India’s 
      Ministry of Health and Family Welfare an application to market ABRAXANE 
      in India for the treatment of breast cancer.
    
    
      About ABRAXANE®
    
    
      The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved ABRAXANE® 
      for Injectable Suspension (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for 
      injectable suspension) (albumin-bound) in January 2005 for the treatment 
      of breast cancer after failure of combination chemotherapy for 
      metastatic disease or relapse within six months of adjuvant 
      chemotherapy. Prior therapy should have included an anthracycline unless 
      clinically contraindicated. The most serious adverse events associated 
      with ABRAXANE in the randomized metastatic breast cancer study for which 
      FDA approval was based included neutropenia, anemia, infections, sensory 
      neuropathy, nausea, vomiting, and myalgia/arthralgia. Other common 
      adverse reactions included anemia, asthenia, diarrhea, ocular/visual 
      disturbances, fluid retention, alopecia, hepatic dysfunction, mucositis, 
      and renal dysfunction. For the full prescribing information for ABRAXANE®, 
      please visit www.abraxane.com.
    
    
      ABRAXANE was developed by Abraxis BioScience, Inc. ABRAXANE is marketed 
      in the United States under a co-promotion agreement between Abraxis and 
      AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP.
    
    
      About Biocon Limited
    
    
      Established in 1978, Biocon Limited is one of India’s 
      premier biotechnology companies. Biocon and its two subsidiary 
      companies, Syngene International Ltd and Clinigene International Ltd, 
      form a fully integrated biotechnology enterprise, specializing in 
      biopharmaceuticals, custom research, clinical research and enzymes. With 
      successful initiatives in clinical development, bio-processing and 
      global marketing, Biocon delivers products and solutions to partners and 
      customers across the globe. Many of these products have USFDA and EMEA 
      acceptance. Biocon launched the world’s first 
      recombinant human insulin, INSUGEN®, in 
      November 2004 using Pichia expression and India’s 
      first indigenously produced monoclonal antibody BIOMAb-EGFRTM. 
      Visit us at www.biocon.com
    
    
      About Abraxis BioScience, Inc.
    
    
      Abraxis BioScience, Inc. is an integrated global biopharmaceutical 
      company dedicated to meeting the needs of critically ill patients. The 
      company develops, manufactures and markets one of the broadest 
      portfolios of injectable products and leverages revolutionary technology 
      such as its nab™ platform to discover 
      and deliver breakthrough therapeutics that transform the treatment of 
      cancer and other life-threatening diseases. The first FDA approved 
      product to use this nab platform, ABRAXANE®, 
      was launched in 2005 for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. 
      Abraxis trades on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol ABBI. For 
      more information about the company and its products, please visit www.abraxisbio.com.