5N Plus Expands its Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Portfolio to Include Compounds for a New Class of Antibiotic & Antibiofilm Drugs

MONTREAL, Jan. 12, 2021 /CNW/ - 5N Plus Inc. ("5N Plus" or the "Company"), a leading global producer of specialty chemicals and engineered materials, announced today that it has entered into a strategic agreement with Bozeman, Montana-based Microbion Corporation ("Microbion"), aimed at furthering the development of Microbion's new class of antibiotic and antibiofilm drugs. Under the terms of the agreement, 5N Plus has taken an equity stake in Microbion and will assume responsibility for the manufacturing of Bismuth-based Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) required in Microbion's family of drug products currently under development, including Pravibismane, the API in the company's lead drug product.

5N Plus is uniquely positioned to support Microbion in developing and manufacturing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients essential for its new class of antibiotic and antibiofilm drug products. 5N Plus is the world's leading producer of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients based on Bismuth compounds. In December 2017, the Company announced its entry into active additives for the health and nutrition industry (Refer to: 5N Plus Press Release December 7, 2017), building on its pharmaceutical background, and within 18 months commissioned a new production plant in Germany to support this initiative. In 2020, the Company finalized a series of investments which expanded capacity and improved capability of its pharmaceutical facility in Lübeck, Germany (Refer to: 5N Plus Press Release October 28, 2020).  The Company's site in Lübeck manufactures a portfolio of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients essential in drug treatments ranging from gastrointestinal conditions to the treatment of mastitis related infections. The market associated with Microbion's antibiotic and antibiofilm drug products is estimated to be a multibillion-dollar market annually, in the US alone, with Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients representing up to 5% of the overall market value.

This initiative along with the recent announcement to enter the market for Additive Manufacturing  (Refer to: 5N Plus Press Release October 7, 2020), supports 5N Plus' vision for the future with regard to advanced materials, based on the Company's core competencies in material science and ultra-high purity materials. Indeed, 5N Plus has begun to utilize external means to gain ccess to additional competencies required to enter larger congruent markets relevant to the Company's plans for transformation and growth. 5N Plus views engineered powders, engineered semiconductor substrates and ultra-high-purity compounds, including Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, as relevant activities well within the Company's scope.

Arjang Roshan, President and Chief Executive Officer of 5N Plus, commented: "5N Plus has begun to expedite its transformation toward material technology and is augmenting its organic growth initiatives with additional opportunities which can only be realized through external means. As we aim to become the leading global provider of advanced materials to select growing markets of the future, I expect our company's focus to increase, leading to further simplification of our portfolio and intensification of our growth initiatives utilizing both internal and non-organic means." 

About 5N Plus Inc.
5N Plus is a leading global producer of engineered materials and specialty chemicals with integrated recycling and refining assets to manage the sustainability of its business model. The Company is headquartered in Montreal, Québec, Canada and operates R&D, manufacturing and commercial centers in several locations in Europe, the Americas and Asia. 5N Plus deploys a range of proprietary and proven technologies to manufacture products which are used as enabling precursors by its customers in a number of advanced electronics, optoelectronics, pharmaceutical, health, renewable energy and industrial applications. Many of the materials produced by 5N Plus are critical for the functionality and performance of the products and systems produced by its customers, many of whom are leaders within their industry.

Forward-Looking Statements and Disclaimer
Certain statements in this press release may be forward-looking within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information and statements are based on the best estimates available to the Company at the time and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties or other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. A description of the risks affecting the Company's business and activities appears under the heading "Risk and Uncertainties" of the 5N Plus' 2019 MD&A dated February 25, 2020 and note 10 of the unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 available on www.sedar.com. 

The Company is not aware of any significant changes to its risk factors previously disclosed, however since January 2020, the gradual outbreak of the novel strain of the coronavirus, COVID-19 and its declaration as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, has resulted in governments worldwide enacting emergency measures to combat the spread of the virus. These measures have caused material disruption to businesses globally resulting in an economic slowdown. While the Company has been able to mitigate the short-term impact from the crisis without significant loss of production capacity and customer demand, it is not possible to reliably estimate the length, severity and long-term impact the global pandemic may have on the Company's financial results, conditions and cash flows. The outbreak of the COVID-19 should be considered a new risk factor.

Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of terms such as "may", "should", "would", "believe", "expect", the negative of these terms, variations of them or any similar terms. No assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information in this press release will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits that 5N Plus will derive therefrom. In particular, no assurance can be given as to the future financial performance of 5N Plus. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof and the Company has no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking information to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise, unless required by applicable securities laws. The reader is warned against placing undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE 5N Plus Inc.

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