November 30, 2001 — CAMBRIDGE, MA — Biopure Corporation recently signed an amended letter of intent with Sumter Realty Group, LLC that increases the real estate developer’s financing commitment for Biopure’s proposed pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Sumter, S.C.
Construction of the new facility will cost between $110 and $120 million, up from the preliminary estimate of $85 million. Biopure will not be required to increase the $10 million up-front equity investment it has made in the project.
The revised cost is based on engineering and subcontractor estimates developed during the past six months for a plant with a production capacity of 500,000 Hemopure units per year, expandable to one million units. Engineering to support construction of this facility is nearly complete. The company has decided to finish this work to avoid design changes during construction and ensure that the cost estimate and construction schedule will be met. Biopure and Sumter Realty Group expect to close on the financing, execute the lease and break ground by March 1, 2002.
“This plan results in a validated, licensed facility in 2004 and maintains our previously stated timeframe for establishing a large-scale production capability,” said Biopure Chairman and CEO Carl W. Rausch. “In addition, the investment we’ve made in the design of this plant provides us with plans for the construction of future facilities.”
Biopure will enter into a 20-year lease for the South Carolina facility with optional buyout provisions after three years. The company will guarantee the lease and secure its guaranty with an assignment of patents, trademarks and proprietary manufacturing technology. Biopure Corporation
Biopure Corporation, headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of a new class of pharmaceuticals, called oxygen therapeutics, which are intravenously administered to deliver oxygen to the body’s tissues.