Biopure Sues National Institutes of Health Official

Complaint Alleges Defamation, Trade Libel and Intentional Interference with Prospective Business Advantage 


CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 28  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Biopure Corporation (NASDAQ:BPUR) announced today that it had filed an action for injunctive relief and damages against Charles Natanson, M.D., who co-authored an article and several letters about Hemopure, hemoglobin glutamer-250 (bovine), Biopure's oxygen therapeutic product for human use.  The action was filed on October 10, 2008, in the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia.  Natanson is senior investigator and head of the anesthesia section of the Critical Care Medicine Department, Clinical Center, of the National Institutes of Health.

The complaint alleges that in publishing the article "Cell-Free Hemoglobin-Based Blood Substitutes and Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Death" (published by the Journal of the American Medical Association online on April 28, 2008) and writing a number of letters to regulatory authorities in jurisdictions where Biopure is active, Natanson engaged in tortious activity that injured Biopure.  Biopure seeks injunctive relief and damages for defamation, trade libel/injurious falsehood and intentional interference with prospective business advantage.

  Natanson has not yet filed an answer or any other response.

  Biopure Corporation


Biopure Corporation develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, called oxygen therapeutics that are intravenously administered to deliver oxygen to the body's tissues. Hemopure(R) [hemoglobin glutamer -- 250 (bovine)], or HBOC-201, is approved for sale in South Africa for the treatment of surgical patients who are acutely anemic.  The Company is developing Hemopure for other indications and is supporting the U.S. Navy's government-funded efforts to develop a potential out-of-hospital trauma indication.  Biopure's veterinary product Oxyglobin(R) [hemoglobin glutamer -- 200 (bovine)], or HBOC-301, the only oxygen therapeutic approved for marketing by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Commission, is indicated for the treatment of anemia in dogs.  Biopure has sold approximately 200,000 units of Oxyglobin since its launch.

Statements in this release that are not strictly historical are forward- looking statements, including any statements implying that any legal action will be successful. Actual results and their timing may differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties.  These risks include, without limitation, uncertainties regarding the company's financial position, including its limited cash resources and need to raise additional capital to pursue its business, unexpected costs and expenses, delays and adverse determinations by regulatory authorities, unanticipated problems with the product's commercial use, whether or not product related, and with product distributors, sales agents or other third parties, delays in clinical trials, and the other factors identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's quarterly report on Form 10- Q filed on September 15, 2008, which can be accessed in the EDGAR database at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) website, http://www.sec.gov/.  The company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date hereof.  A full discussion of the company's operations and financial condition can be found in the company's filings with the SEC.

  Contact: Tiana Gorham
           Biopure Corporation
           [phone]
           

DATASOURCE: Biopure Corporation



CONTACT:  Tiana Gorham of Biopure Corporation, [phone],





Web site:  http://www.biopure.com/



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