VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 16, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Patch International Inc. (OTCBB:PAII) (Berlin Bremen Stock Exchange:PQG) is pleased to announce that, as previously disclosed, the Company proposes to effect a distribution to its shareholders on a pro rata basis of a total of 5,600,000 of the shares or the proceeds of Pharmaxis Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd held by it, on or after November 15, 2005, being the date that the escrow restrictions attaching to such shares expire. Nothwithstanding the distribution date, the directors of the Company have fixed July 30, 2004 as the record date for determining shareholders entitled to participate in such distribution. Shares purchased after that date will not entitle the holder to participate in the distribution.
The record date of July 30, 2004 is subject to receiving all required regulatory approvals and fulfilling all necessary statutory requirements in order to permit the distribution of Patch International Inc. to occur.
Commenting on declaring the dividend record date, President David Stadnyk said: "Rewarding our long-term shareholders is very important to the directors of the company. The potential of this dividend gets stronger every day and we are optimistic that the dividend, upon distribution, will be worth much more than the current price of a share in Patch."
About Pharmaxis
Pharmaxis is a specialist pharmaceutical company committed to the research, development and commercialization of human therapeutic products for chronic respiratory and autoimmune diseases.
Pharmaxis is focused on the development of its two leading technologies. The first technology includes Brochitol(tm) and Aridol(tm), which are inhaled non-ionic osmolytes. Bronchitol(tm) is being developed for the treatment of respiratory diseases- in particular, cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis and chronic bronchitis. AridolTM is an improved lung function test and is currently in a 600 subject multicentre Phase 111 study and over 250 subjects have been enrolled to date.
The second technology focuses on new immune response modifiers - PXS25 and PXS2000 - for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
The company has a pipeline of products in different stages of development, including four projects at clinical study stage (in patients), two projects in pre- clinical evaluation and one research project to identify a compound for development.
Pharmaxis operates a first class, TGA-licensed manufacturing facility at Frenchs Forest, near Sydney, Australia.
Pharmaxis was founded in 1998 and is chaired by Denis Hanley, former Chairman and CEO of Memtec Limited. He has extensive experience in growing Australian technology corporations to become successful global entities.
Pharmaxis was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in November 2003 and trades under the symbol PXS. Their corporate website is www.pharmaxis.com.au.
About Patch International
Patch International was a private corporation acquired by publicly traded Praxis Pharmaceuticals early this year. Patch now trades under the symbol PAII. It is also listed on the Berlin Bremen Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol PQG. Quotes can be accessed by going to www.Berlinerboerse.de and typing in the symbol.
Besides its current activity in Texas, the company is also involved in Saskatchewan, and the East Corning area in Northern California. In addition, the company is involved globally in Ukraine where it is in the final stages of talks to develop several oil and gas wells in conjunction with the Ukrainian government. Its other investment interest is in Pharmaxis Ltd. (PXS: Australian Stock Exchange) where it is one of the largest shareholders, along with CIBC, HSBC, and the Rothschild Group.
For further information visit our corporate website at www.patchenergy.com.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for forward-looking statements made on behalf of the Company. All such forward-looking statements are, by necessity, only estimates of future results and actual results achieved by Praxis Pharmaceuticals Inc. may differ materially from these statements due to a number of factors. Praxis Pharmaceuticals Inc. assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such statements. You should independently investigate and fully understand all risk before make investment decisions.