Biopure's oxygen therapeutics are pharmaceutically manufactured biologic drugs consisting of bovine hemoglobin that has been ultra-purified, chemically crosslinked for stability and formulated in a balanced salt solution. These products do not contain cells or any component of blood other than hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen. On a gram-for-gram basis, the cross-linked hemoglobin in Biopure's products carries the same amount of oxygen as the hemoglobin in red blood cells (RBCs). However, these cross-linked hemoglobin molecules circulate in the plasma, and are smaller, have lower viscosity and more readily release oxygen to tissues than RBCs. Consequently, they can carry oxygen at low pressure and through constricted or partially blocked blood vessels to areas of the body that RBCs cannot reach because of their larger size.

HEMOPURE is approved in South Africa for the treatment of adult surgery patients who are acutely anemic and for the purpose of eliminating, delaying or reducing the need for allogeneic RBCs in these patients. Biopure is preparing to file a marketing application with the U.S. FDA in mid-2002, followed by an application in Europe, for perioperative use of the product in patients undergoing elective surgery.

OXYGLOBIN, the only veterinary product of its kind approved by the FDA and the European Commission, is commercially available in the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom for the treatment of anemia in dogs.