LAVAL, QUEBEC, CANADA--(Marketwire - March 26, 2012) -(TSX:PLI)

• Revenues of $8.4 million in Q4 2011 generating a Q4 2011 net profit of $3.4 million
  
  
• Revenues of $17.6 million in 2011 compared to $11.4 million in 2010
  
  
• EBITDA of ($0.5) million in 2011 compared to ($8.7) million in 2010
  
  
• Net Loss of ($3.3) million in 2011 compared to ($11.3) million in 2010

ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (TSX:PLI) ("ProMetic"or the "Company") announced record revenues of $8.4 million and a net profit of $3.4 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, ProMetic reported revenues of $17.6 million, representing an increase of 54% over the prior year.

"2011 was a pivotal year for ProMetic as we achieved record revenues and laid the foundation for sustainable growth" said Mr. Pierre Laurin, ProMetic's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We secured licensing revenues from Celgene Corporation ("Celgene") which compensated for lower products sales and service revenues due to Octapharma AG's regulatory delays and Celgene's acquisition of Abraxis BioScience. We expect continued revenue growth in 2012 and beyond from licensing our proven manufacturing technologies and stronger product sales / service revenues as confirmed by recent announcements. Licensing and royalty revenues will continue to be part of future revenues, along with a growing customer base for our proprietary affinity resin".

"Delays with client's development programs continued to impact the first half of 2011. However, the second part of the year saw stronger product sales. We delivered our best ever annual financial performance in terms of revenues and net loss in 2011. We expect our liquidity situation to continue to improve going forward as we start monetizing our 2012 order backlog", said Mr. Bruce Pritchard, ProMetic's Chief Financial Officer. "We intend to continue to monitor our cost structure and expect 2012 to be a much stronger year".

The table below illustrates the Company's revenues and EBITDA* progression over the past six years:

2011 Corporate and Financing Highlights

In 2011, ProMetic extended the repayment of its secured debt, which is now repayable in July 2013. This removes short-term pressure on cash flow and shall allow the Company to repay the debt with cash generated from its growing commercial activities. It also highlights that the interests of the secured lenders who also own a significant number of shares in ProMetic are aligned with all the shareholders of the Company.

On February 7, 2011, ProMetic established a new subsidiary, NewCo, to operate a pilot manufacturing plant which will allow ProMetic to commercialize products using its PPPS™ technology for the multi-million dollar plasma-derived therapeutics market. The facility was leased on very favourable terms and has a targeted processing capacity of 150,000 liters of plasma annually. In February, the Company received an initial $1.5 million investment in NewCo which was later in the year converted into a 13% equity stake in NewCo. ProMetic's headquarters were also relocated to NewCo's facility in March.

On March 31, 2011, ProMetic entered into a licensing agreement with Abraxis BioScience, a wholly owned subsidiary of Celgene, which generated US$10 million of revenue for ProMetic. ProMetic assigned and licensed certain intellectual property rights regarding a protein technology to Celgene for a specific field of use. As consideration for the assignment of the intellectual property rights, the US $10.0 million loan entered into with Abraxis in February 2010 was forgiven.

On May 18, 2011, ProMetic announced that Wuhan Institute of Biologic Products ("WIBP") and its parent company, China National Biotech Group ("CNBG"), agreed to further expand and strengthen their partnership with ProMetic. This announcement followed a series of successful milestone achievements and close cooperation between the parties in recent years. On November 30, 2011 the Company announced the successful completion of the first set of milestones associated with the scaling up of the plasma protein purification system (PPPS™) manufacturing platform in CNBG's Wuhan facility.

On May 27, 2011, ProMetic announced the signing of an agreement with a multinational company to enhance the quality of an existing biopharmaceutical product manufactured. The successful achievement of milestones lead to the signing in February 2012 of a follow-on development phase amounting to $2.5 million in service revenues to be completed in 2012.

On July 7, 2011, ProMetic received a $4 million follow-on purchase order of a proprietary Mimetic™ Ligand affinity adsorbent pursuant to a long-term supply agreement originally entered into with a major global pharmaceutical company in 2009. This order was completed in the second half of 2011.

On September 22, 2011, ProMetic announced a first order from a leading Chinese biopharmaceutical company for a large scale biomanufacturing process, in line with ProMetic's objective of continuing to expand its reach in Asia. This initial order is related to the purchase of a proprietary Mimetic™ Ligand affinity adsorbent for the manufacturing scale-up of a biosimilar product in China. The Company will commence deliveries in early 2012.

On September 27, 2011, ProMetic announced that it had been selected to make four presentations at ASN's (American Society of Nephrology) Kidney Week conference demonstrating the ability of its orally active lead compounds PBI-4050 and PBI-4419 to significantly reduce fibrosis in kidneys in both acute and chronic settings. The results presented during this conference represent some of the new data generated throughout 2011 with our lead drug candidates.

On October 12, 2011, ProMetic announced the resumption of prion capture resin (PrioClear®) supply to Octapharma AG ("Octapharma") through the reception of a first $0.73 million follow-on purchase order under its existing license and supply agreement with Octapharma. This was followed on October 26, 2011, by the receipt of a binding forecast from Octapharma for more than $2 million of PrioClear® in the first half of 2012. On November 23, 2011, Octapharma confirmed the regulatory approval of Octaplas®LG for additional European Union countries. ProMetic's PrioClear® resin is embedded in Octapharma's new manufacturing process for its solvent/detergent treated, prion-reduced, plasma product, Octaplas®LG.

2011Financial Highlights

The financial information in regards to the twelve and three month period ended December 31, 2011 should be read in conjunction with the Company's financial statements as well as the Management's Discussion and Analysis dated March 26, 2011.

From a financial reporting perspective, 2011 has delivered the best annual financial performance in terms of revenues in the Company's history. Total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2011, were $17.6 million compared with $11.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. The 2011 revenues were derived from product sales, development service revenues and licensing transactions. Total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2011 were $8.4 million compared to $1.1 million for the same 2010 period. This last quarter performance serves to remind readers again that the revenues of the business do not accrue in a straight line during the year.

The combined costs of goods sold and rechargeable research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2011, totalled $3.2 million compared to $5.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2010. This difference is explained by the difference in the revenue mix. The combined costs of goods sold and rechargeable research and development expenses for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011, totalled $0.8 million compared to $1.0 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2010.

The Company generated a net loss of $3.3 million or $0.01 per share (basic and diluted), for the year ended December 31, 2011, as compared to a net loss of $11.3 million or $0.03 per share (basic and diluted) for the year ended December 31, 2010. The Company generated a net profit of $3.4 million or $0.01 per share (basic and diluted), for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011, as compared to a net loss of $4.3 million or $0.01 per share (basic and diluted) for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2010.

Outlook

Management believes that despite the financial challenges in 2011, the Company has delivered on several fronts across its business divisions. Management believes that the Company is poised to continue to build its revenue and deliver on its strategic initiatives in all its business divisions in 2012. The Company's 2012 objectives include:

• The broadening of its customer base, both in territory and types of clients;
• Continued development of programs and entering into strategic alliances
• Revenue growth by increasing existing product and service sales
• Improvement of liquidity and financial position
• Operational launch of ProMetic's NewCo facility in Laval, Quebec
• Further advance small molecule therapeutics' development programs
• Close strategic deals for the small molecule therapeutics

Management also believes that its liquidity situation will continue to improve in the coming months and that its overall business prospects remain extremely attractive for the upcoming quarters.

In the Protein Technologies division, work will continue to embed the prion-safety technology into NewCo's manufacturing processes.

The Company will continue to assist Macopharma, with the adoption of the P-Capt^® filter in the UK. In line with SaBTO's recommendation, in November 2009, for adoption of the P-Capt^® filter for children born after January 1, 1996, the Company is hopeful that sales may commence after the reporting of the PRISM clinical study results. In addition to seeking other industrial scale users for the technology, ProMetic will continue to support Octapharma in the adoption of OctaplasLG® for the US market following the recent submission of its Biological License Application.

Also, in the Proteins Technologies (Plasma) division, the Company will set up its cGMP pilot manufacturing plant and the organization of its related capital structure with a view to commencing operations therein. This plant, together with the results arising from activities in China with CNBG is expected to be used by the Company to leverage its other commercial-scale manufacturing opportunities relating to the PPPS™ technology.

The Therapeutics division will remain focused on business development activities. Partnering discussions continue with respect to PBI-1402, its NCE analogues PBI-4050 and PBI-4419 and other proprietary compounds. It is Management's goal to close a strategic deal with a major pharmaceutical company and secure funding to further advance its various development programs.

Finally, and in line with earlier commitments, Management will continue to monitor costs throughout the business, with a view to driving the Company towards being cash-flow positive and increasing profitability.

2011 Year End Results Conference Call Information

ProMetic will host a conference call at 10:00am (EST) on March 27, 2012. The telephone numbers to access the conference call are (416) 981-9000 (International) and 1-800-926-5197 (Toll-free). A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available through [ http://www.gowebcasting.com/3238 ]

Additional Information in Respect of the Twelve & Three month Period ended December 31, 2011

ProMetic's MD&A and fiscal 2011 Financial Statements have been filed on Sedar ([ www.sedar.com ]).

About ProMetic Life Sciences Inc.

ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. ("ProMetic") ([ www.prometic.com ]) is a biopharmaceutical company specialized in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of a variety of commercial applications derived from its proprietary Mimetic Ligand™ technology. This technology is used in large-scale purification of biologics and the elimination of pathogens. ProMetic is also active in therapeutic drug development with the mission to bring to market effective, innovative, lower cost, less toxic products for the treatment of hematology and cancer. Its drug discovery platform is focused on replacing complex, expensive proteins with synthetic "drug-like" protein mimetics. Headquartered in Laval (Canada), ProMetic has R&D facilities in the U.K., the U.S. and Canada, manufacturing facilities in the U.K. and business development activities in the US, Europe, Asia and in the Middle-East.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements about ProMetic's objectives, strategies and businesses that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are "forward-looking" because they are based on our current expectations about the markets we operate in and on various estimates and assumptions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements if known or unknown risks affect our business, or if our estimates or assumptions turn out to be inaccurate. Such risks and assumptions include, but are not limited to, ProMetic's ability to develop, manufacture, and successfully commercialize value-added pharmaceutical products, the availability of funds and resources to pursue R&D projects, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies, the ability of ProMetic to take advantage of business opportunities in the pharmaceutical industry, uncertainties related to the regulatory process and general changes in economic conditions. You will find a more detailed assessment of the risks that could cause actual events or results to materially differ from our current expectations on page 27 of ProMetic's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2010, under the heading "Risk and Uncertainties related to ProMetic's business". As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement even if new information becomes available, as a result of future events or for any other reason, unless required by applicable securities laws and regulations. All amounts are in Canadian dollars unless indicated otherwise.