23rd Dec 2008 07:00
|
For Immediate Release |
23 December 2008 |
TYRATECH, INC.
("TyraTech" or "the Company")
Kraft Foods Partnership Progress and Early Milestone Payment
~ Revised agreement completed as project successfully advances~
TyraTech, Inc. (AIM: TYR), a leading independent novel clean technology company for human, animal and environmental health, is pleased to announce that it has amended its worldwide exclusive co-development and technology sub-license agreement ("Agreement") originally signed in December 2006 with Kraft Foods Inc ("Kraft", NYSE: KFT), the world's second largest food company with annual revenues of approximately $40 billion and sales in more than 150 countries. The innovative collaboration was formed to develop new, functional-food products to benefit people living in areas with endemic parasitic disease. Under the revised terms of the Agreement, Kraft has paid more than 75% of a significant project milestone payment ahead of schedule based in part on successful data and progress with the programme. The value of the stage two payment is undisclosed.
The original Agreement defined sequential project milestones relating to progress made by both parties. The Agreement included significant milestone payments made to TyraTech upon successful completion of work in each of four defined stages, along with the ability of Kraft to later recover certain development costs from royalties due under the agreement. TyraTech and Kraft successfully completed Stage One in December 2007, following positive preclinical efficacy data of the TyraTech Natural compounds, and TyraTech received its first milestone payment.
Work for the second stage has been actively progressing and is expected to be completed in 2009. Successful accomplishment of key project objectives in 2008 has allowed for some modifications to the Agreement to be made. Under the terms of the revised Agreement Kraft accelerated payment of more than 75% of the stage two milestone to TyraTech in December 2008. In return, Kraft will benefit from a modified royalty payment schedule to accelerate Kraft's recovery of the Agreement specified development costs when the product is released into the market.
Both companies continue to work aggressively on the project and expect the entire stage two phase to be completed in 2009. At that time, the balance of the stage two milestone payment would be made by Kraft to TyraTech.
Commenting on the announcement, Douglas Armstrong Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of TyraTech, said: "The revised Agreement is a direct result of the exciting progress and success that TyraTech is having in its partnership with Kraft. The acceleration of the milestone cash payment is an important endorsement by Kraft of our TyraTech Natural technology, and provides useful working capital for TyraTech. These events should be an exciting sign for our shareholders of the ongoing progress at TyraTech."
For further information please contact:
TyraTech Inc.
Douglas Armstrong Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer +1 (321) 409 7403
Keith Bigsby, Chief Financial Officer +1 (321) 409 7714
www.tyratech.com
Nomura Code Securities
Charles Walker +44 (0)20 7776 1200
www.nomuracode.com
Buchanan Communications
MaryߛJane Johnson / Lisa Baderoon +44 (0)20 7466 5000 / Catherine Breen / Stasa Filiplic
About TyraTech
TyraTech's plan for the use of its technology is to develop selected proprietary active ingredients which can then be used across a wide variety of market segments, either by development partners or by TyraTech itself. TyraTech already has products or partnerships in the areas of professional and horticultural insect control, and for an insect/mosquito repellent. TyraTech also has an innovative partnership with Kraft to use its natural oils to develop functional foods for improving the health of the more than 2 billion people worldwide subject to intestinal parasitic infections.
TyraTech also has a separate technology with associated intellectual property that is the basis for the Sustainable Solutions business. This technology has been incorporated into specialised dairy farm equipment for processing cattle manure waste to a usable material for TyraTech to sell as a commercial plant growing medium. For more information please visit www.tyratech.com.
About the Agreement with Kraft
In December 2006, TyraTech signed a worldwide exclusive co-development agreement with Kraft Foods Inc ("Kraft", NYSE: KFT), the world's second largest food company with annual revenues of approximately $40 billion and sales in more than 150 countries. . The agreement covers parasitic prevention applications of TyraTech technology to be delivered in food products. With an active development program in place, Kraft and TyraTech are moving to advance both the technical validation and lead market qualification process.
The agreement includes exclusivity fees, milestone payments and royalties. The first exclusivity payment was received in 2006 and represented a significant commitment by Kraft. The first milestone payment was received in December 2007 following completion of the designated activities and subsequent milestones were determined at that time. This partnership represents not only a novel technological solution to the vast problem of human parasitic infestation (over 2 billion infested), but by using food also utilises a unique business channel that can reach the affected populations.
While therapeutic options for treatment of intestinal parasites exist, many of them have major problems due to the toxicity of the treatments and they therefore cannot be used frequently enough to prevent re-infestation. The TyraTech prophylactic approach however, is designed to be safe enough to use in food every day. This not only opens a distribution channel more readily available to the developing world customer, but also greatly expands the size of the market.
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