Encorium Group Announces $5.1 Million New Business Contract For A Multinational Cardiovascular Trial Of An Innovative Anti-thrombotic Agent

WAYNE, Pa.–(EMWNews)–Encorium Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENCO) today announced the signing

of a contract for $5.1 million with an innovative biotechnology company

for a Phase 2 clinical trial to be conducted by Encorium in conjunction

with our South American partner Estudios Clínicos

Latino América (ECLA). The contract amount

includes $170,000 payable under a letter of intent that was announced

previously. The current trial will assess the efficacy and safety of

multiple doses of a new anti-thrombotic agent in an at-risk patient

population with cardiovascular disease. Encorium will provide full

service support, including consulting on trial design and protocol

development, project and study site management and monitoring, data

management, biostatistical analysis, safety monitoring, and medical

writing. Revenues will be recognized as services are performed on a

proportional performance basis over the life of the contract, beginning

in the current third quarter.

Kenneth M. Borow, M.D., Encorium Group’s

President and Chief Medical and Strategic Development Officer,

commented, “This trial is an excellent fit for

Encorium and demonstrates the potential power of the international

organization that we are in the process of creating. Our ability to

enhance the rate of patient recruitment by utilizing the capabilities of

ECLA in South America was a major determinant in our winning this

contract. The trial combines our proven expertise in clinical trial

design with our extensive operational experience in multi-national

trials with subjects at high risk for cardiovascular events.

Importantly, it is our second major contract with this client in two

years. We believe that this repeat business reflects the high level of

cooperation and success that characterized our first experience working

together. We anticipate a long and mutually beneficial relationship with

the sponsoring company.”

Kai Lindevall, M.D., Ph.D., Encorium’s Chief Executive Officer, stated,

“We are excited about once again working with this pioneering client as

well as with our partner in South America. The ability to provide access

to resources, clinical trial sites, and patients across the Americas is

an important extension of our core capabilities. The award of this

contract confirms the value of our globalization strategy.”

About Encorium Group, Inc.

Encorium Group, Inc. is a global clinical research organization

specializing in the design and management of complex clinical trials and

Patient Registries for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical

device industries. The Company’s mission is to

provide its clients with high quality, full-service support for their

biopharmaceutical and medical device development programs. Encorium

offers therapeutic expertise, experienced team management and advanced

technologies. The Company has drug and biologics development as well as

clinical trial experience across a wide variety of therapeutic areas

such as infectious diseases, cardiovascular, vaccines, oncology,

diabetes endocrinology/metabolism, gene therapy, immunology, neurology,

gastroenterology, dermatology, hepatology, women’s

health and respiratory medicine. Encorium believes that its expertise in

the design of complex clinical trials, its therapeutic experience and

commitment to excellence, and its application of innovative

technologies, offer its clients a means to more quickly and cost

effectively move products through the clinical development process.

Encorium is headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania with its European base

of operations in Espoo, Finland. The Company has a geographic footprint

that includes over one billion people in North America,

Western/Central/Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and the Baltics.

On June 6, 2008, the Company entered into a non-binding letter of intent

to acquire Prologue Research International, Inc., a CRO that specializes

in a full range of clinical research services for Phase I through Phase

IV clinical trials in oncology and oncology-related studies (“Prologue”).

This acquisition will broaden Encorium’s

therapeutic area expertise in this very important and high-growth area

of drug/biologics development.

In addition, on June 11, 2008, the Company entered into a non-binding

letter of intent to combine with Fine Success Investments, Ltd., a

British Virgin Islands company doing business as Linkcon (“Linkcon”).

Linkcon has acquired or will acquire either prior to or simultaneously

with the proposed business combination with Encorium (i) a CRO based in

India with over 10 years of clinical trial experience; (ii) a CRO

operating throughout Latin America, also with over 10 years of clinical

trial experience; (iii) a Chinese CRO that holds licenses to conduct

clinical trials in the People’s Republic of

China and Hong Kong; and (iv) a controlling interest in the Chinese

company that holds the license for JK1, a healthcare portal for medical

professionals and consumers promoting the exchange of medical

information between China and the Western world. This business

combination is expected to enhance Encorium’s

global profile as a CRO by broadening the Company’s

operational services and therapeutic area offerings into established and

emerging biopharmaceutical markets across multiple continents.

This press release contains forward-looking statements identified by

words such as “estimate,”

“project,” “expect,”

“intend,” “believe,”

“anticipate” and

similar expressions. Actual results might differ materially from those

projected in, expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements.

Potential risks and uncertainties that could affect the Company’s future

operating results and financial condition generally include, without

limitation: (i) our success in attracting new business and retaining

existing clients and projects; (ii) the size, duration, and timing of

clinical trials we are currently managing may change unexpectedly; (iii)

the termination, delay or cancellation of clinical trials we are

currently managing could cause revenues and cash-on-hand to decline

unexpectedly; (iv) the timing difference between our receipt of contract

milestone or scheduled payments and our incurring costs to manage these

trials; (v) outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and

medical device industries; (vi) the ability to maintain profit margins

in a competitive marketplace; (vii) our ability to attract and retain

qualified personnel; (viii) the sensitivity of our business to general

economic conditions; (ix) other economic, competitive, governmental and

technological factors affecting our operations, markets, products,

services and prices; (x) announced awards received from existing and

potential customers are not definitive until fully negotiated contracts

are executed by the parties; and (xi) our backlog may not be indicative

of future revenues and may not generate the revenues expected. You

should not place any undue reliance on these forward looking statements

which speak only as of the date of this press release. Additional

information concerning factors that might affect our business or stock

price which could cause actual results to materially differ from those

in forward-looking statements is contained in Encorium Group’s SEC

filings, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended

December 31, 2007 and other periodic reports under the Securities

Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, copies of which are available upon

request from Encorium Group’s investor relations department or The

Equity Group, Inc.

In addition, this press release contains forward-looking statements

regarding the potential acquisition of Prologue and the combination with

Linkcon. Those statements involve risks and uncertainties and the actual

effects of the transactions could differ materially from those

discussed. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences

include, but are not limited to: (i) the timing of the closing, if any,

of the acquisition of Prologue and the combination with Linkcon; (ii)

the completion to our satisfaction of due diligence regarding both

Prologue and Linkcon; (iii) the acquisition by us of a fairness opinion

relating to the purchase price for Linkcon; (iv) our ability to

negotiate definitive agreements with Prologue and Linkcon; (v) Linkcon’s

ability to enter into definitive agreements with the CRO entities to be

acquired by Linkcon and Linkcon’s ability to

complete those transactions pursuant to the existing non-binding term

sheets; (vi) Chardan’s ability to raise $25

million for investment in the combined entity; (vii) our ability to

obtain the required corporate, stockholder and, if applicable,

third-party and governmental approvals; (viii) the possibility that the

transaction may not close; (ix) our ability to negotiate mutually

acceptable employment arrangements with key employees of Prologue and

Linkcon; (x) our ability to successfully integrate the businesses of

Prologue and Linkcon; and (xi) the performance of the combined business

to operate successfully and generate growth.

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