Unilife Announces Financial Results for the Third Quarter of Fiscal 2011
York, PA (May 17, 2011) Unilife Corporation (“Unilife” or “Company”) (NASDAQ: UNIS; ASX: UNS) today announced its financial results for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2011 (Third Quarter of Fiscal 2011).
Recent Company Highlights:
• Began initial production of the Unifill® ready-to-fill (prefilled) syringe at York, PA facility
- Initial product sales expected to commence in July 2011
• Initiated scheduled business realignment to enhance operational focus, improve efficiencies and drive continuous growth
- Strengthened frontline sales and marketing departments to expand and consolidate commercial relationships with multiple pharmaceutical companies
- Established organizational structure driven by dynamic project-focused teams to enable innovation and speed for commercialization of multiple new devices
• Accelerated discussions with multiple pharmaceutical companies for the Unifill syringe
• Emerging opportunities to develop other Unilife proprietary device technologies that can be customized to address specific and currently unmet requirements for target biological drugs in the R&D pipeline
• Signed term sheet with a large equipment financing company for up to $12.0 million in financing for the initial production line for the Unifill syringe
• Strengthened Unilife’s financial position, with the Company now expected to have sufficient cash to sustain business operations until at least the end of fiscal 2012
Mr. Alan Shortall, Chief Executive Officer of Unilife, stated, “The third quarter of fiscal 2011 marked a significant period for Unilife, as we initiated production of the Unifill syringe. With this major milestone now completed, we are conducting final product validation procedures and expect to commence initial sales of the Unifill syringe to pharmaceutical companies in July 2011. In preparation for the ramp-up of commercial production, we also expanded our sales and marketing teams to maximize commercial opportunities arising out of discussions that are now accelerating with multiple pharmaceutical companies.
“The revolutionary design of the Unifill syringe and its successful commercialization has given Unilife the credibility and expertise to serve as a device innovation partner for pharmaceutical companies. As a result, multiple pharmaceutical and biotech companies are now reviewing how other devices in our portfolio, including extensions of the current Unifill technology platform, can be customized for specific use with targeted biological drugs and vaccines in their development pipelines.
“We have recently implemented a scheduled realignment that helped to streamline our organization, while simultaneously bolstering our sales, marketing and product development capabilities. These steps have helped turbo-charge our business so that we can maximize sales of the Unifill syringe, and drive innovation and speed into the commercialization of multiple new products across other fast-growing device markets. As an additional side-benefit, this realignment is expected to reduce our cash burn by approximately $12 million for the calendar year 2011.
“Furthermore, I am pleased to announce that Unilife has signed a term sheet with an equipment financing company to provide up to $12.0 million in financing for the initial manufacturing line for the Unifill syringe, which is already installed at our York facility. We expect to close this transaction by the end of May, allowing us to recoup $8.0 million in cash currently invested in this equipment. In combination with the savings from our recent realignment plan, we believe we will have sufficient cash to carry us through until the end of fiscal 2012,” concluded Mr. Shortall.
