OPKO Health Expands Collaboration with Arctic Partners

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- OPKO Health, Inc. (NYSE:OPK) today announced an expansion of the previously announced exclusive licensing deal with Arctic Partners Ab Oy (Turku, Finland) for two biomarkers in the kallikrein family which used together with prostate specific antigen, PSA, can reduce the need for prostate biopsies by over 50%. OPKO exercised a right of first refusal to secure additional proprietary information, patents, know-how, property and technology associated with time-resolved fluorescence detection technology, which is directly applicable to the novel prostate cancer biomarkers. OPKO will pursue commercialization of the assay panel on platforms for use in a laboratory setting as well as the point-of-care.

“Kallikrein markers can be assessed on a variety of detection platforms, and the additional technology gained by executing this secondary agreement with Arctic will accelerate our path to market,” said Phillip Frost, M.D., Chairman and CEO of OPKO Health.

About Arctic Partners Ab Oy

Arctic Partners has been involved in licensing and consulting in the field of in-vitro diagnostics since 1991.

About OPKO Health, Inc.

OPKO is a multi-national biopharmaceutical and diagnostics company that seeks to establish industry-leading positions in large and rapidly growing medical markets by leveraging its discovery, development and commercialization expertise and novel and proprietary technologies.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), which statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "plans," "projects," "will," "may," "anticipates," "believes," "should," "intends," "estimates," and other words of similar meaning, including statements regarding the potential benefits of the kallikrein biomarkers, the ability of the biomarkers to reduce the need for biopsies, whether OPKO will be able to commercialize a diagnostic product utilizing the new biomarkers at all or whether the detection platform will accelerate commercialization, as well as other non-historical statements about our expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding our business, technologies and products, financial condition, strategies or prospects. Many factors could cause our actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements. These factors include those described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and risks inherent in funding, developing and obtaining regulatory approvals of new, commercially-viable and competitive products and treatments. In addition, forward-looking statements may also be adversely affected by general market factors, competitive product development, product availability, federal and state regulations and legislation, the regulatory process for new products and indications, manufacturing issues that may arise, patent positions and litigation, among other factors. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the statements were made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. We intend that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the PSLRA.

OPKO Health, Inc.
Steven D. Rubin, 305-575-6015

Source: OPKO Health, Inc.

Released March 19, 2012