Cipher Pharmaceuticals and Cardiome Pharma Announce Strategic Transaction for Canadian Business Portfolio of Cardiome

Cipher Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX: CPH) and Cardiome Pharma Corp. (Nasdaq: CRME and TSX:COM), today announced their entry into a definitive arrangement agreement pursuant to which Cipher will acquire the Canadian business portfolio of Cardiome.  The proposed transaction will be completed pursuant to the acquisition by Cipher of all of the outstanding shares of Cardiome, following a restructuring of Cardiome pursuant to a statutory plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act.  Pursuant to the arrangement, Cardiome shareholders will receive common shares, on a one-for-one ratio, of a newly created Canadian entity named Correvio Pharma Corp. that will apply for a substitution listing on the Nasdaq and TSX. Correvio will acquire and hold all of Cardiome's pre-transaction assets, excluding the Canadian business portfolio being acquired by Cipher under the arrangement.  The arrangement is described in further detail below.

The Canadian business portfolio to be acquired by Cipher includes commercial and pipeline hospital products administered in the acute care setting, including:

Brinavess® (vernakalant IV), for the rapid conversion of recent onset atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm;
Aggrastat® (tirofiban hydrochloride), for the reduction of thrombotic cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome;
Xydalba™ (dalbavancin hydrochloride), the first and only 30-minute, one-dose treatment option for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections; and
Trevyent® a drug device combination that delivers treprostinil, the world's leading treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension. 

Brinavess and Aggrastat are currently on the market in Canada.  Xydalba, which is approved and marketed by Allergan in the U.S. under the trade name Dalvance®, may receive a regulatory approval decision in Canada as early as the end of 2018.  A Canadian regulatory filing for Trevyent is planned in 2019.