Ringing NYSE Closing Bell(R) Today; Provides Tenant Update SAN
DIEGO, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BioMed Realty Trust, Inc.
(NYSE:BMR), The Leading Provider of Real Estate to the Life Science
Industry , announced today that its board of directors and
corporate officers will ring The Closing Bell at the New York Stock
Exchange on Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time to
commemorate the fifth anniversary of the company's initial public
offering. The ceremony will take place at the New York Stock
Exchange, 11 Wall Street in New York City. BioMed's founders, Alan
D. Gold, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Gary A.
Kreitzer, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Director,
will preside over the ringing of The Closing Bell . "This is a
great day for our team," said Mr. Gold. "Through their hard, smart
work, our industry-leading team of professionals, now over 125
strong, has consistently produced results well beyond the initial
expectations we had on that first day of trading in 2004, when we
owned interests in just five properties, representing less than
400,000 square feet and generating less than $12 million in
annualized base rents. Today, five years later, we have assembled
the industry-leading portfolio of life science real estate,
including 69 properties representing 10.5 million square feet and
roughly $280 million in annualized base rents. While we are pleased
with our progress to date, we are even more excited about the
future for BioMed and the opportunity we see to create value for
our shareholders, building on the strong foundation that we have
established." Mr. Gold further noted, "We are very encouraged by
the significant volume of partnership transactions and capital
raising we have observed in the life science industry over the last
several months, particularly within our tenant portfolio. And while
we remain very cautious with respect to the current leasing
environment, the recent capital raising successes from our tenants
serve as an indication that the primary mechanisms for funding the
life science industry appear to be functioning effectively. In
particular we note the continuing critical linkage between
scientific advancements, capital raising and the leasing of space."
Mr. Gold continued, "It is noteworthy that these capital raising
events extend across BioMed's tenant base. While research
institutions, A-rated public companies and larger, established
public companies comprise the vast majority - roughly 75% - of our
tenant base, we are pleased to see healthy capital raising activity
from our mid-stage and early-stage tenants as well." One-half of
BioMed's top ten tenants are research institutions or A-rated
public companies, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center,
Children's Hospital Boston, Genzyme Corporation, Centocor, Inc. (a
Johnson & Johnson subsidiary) and Schering Corporation. Each of
BioMed's other top ten tenants publicly announced significant
capital raising transactions in recent months: -- On August 3,
2009, Human Genome Sciences, Inc., the company's largest tenant,
raised approximately $357 million in net proceeds from its common
stock offering. -- On July 30, 2009, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Incorporated, the company's second largest tenant, announced that
it will receive $105 million, in addition to potential milestone
payments, from the sale of commercialization rights of telaprevir
in Japan and other countries in the Far East to Mitsubishi Tanabe
Pharma Corporation, after announcing its intention to sell certain
future European milestone payments for telaprevir aggregating $250
million earlier in July and raising approximately $314 million in
net proceeds from a common stock offering in February 2009. -- On
July 23, 2009, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the company's
fourth largest tenant, received a $20 million milestone payment
from Bayer Healthcare for initiation of a Phase III clinical trial.
-- On May 4, 2009, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the company's
sixth largest tenant, entered into an agreement with Laboratorios
Almirall, S.A. to license the European rights to develop and
commercialize linaclotide, providing Ironwood pre-commercial
licensing fees and milestone payments totaling $95 million,
including a $40 million upfront licensing fee. -- On July 8, 2009,
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the company's tenth largest tenant,
raised approximately $50 million in net proceeds from a common
stock offering. In addition, Arena entered into a $50 million
equity financing commitment and a $100 million secured loan in
recent months. Many of BioMed's other tenants and their affiliated
companies have also publicly announced significant financing
transactions in 2009, some of which include: -- On May 27, 2009,
Cephalon, Inc. raised approximately $288 million in net proceeds
from a common stock offering and issued $500 million in convertible
senior subordinated notes. -- On June 23, 2009, EpiCept Corporation
raised approximately $9 million in net proceeds from a common stock
and warrants offering, after raising approximately $25 million in
gross proceeds from a public offering of convertible senior
subordinated notes and warrants in February 2009. -- On February
19, 2009, InterMune, Inc. raised approximately $64 million in net
proceeds from a common stock offering. -- On June 12, 2009, MDRNA,
Inc. raised approximately $9 million in net proceeds from a common
stock and warrants offering. -- On July 14, 2009, it was announced
that sanofi-aventis, Novartis AG and MedImmune, a subsidiary of
AstraZeneca PLC, would receive additional orders from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services of $813 million for swine
flu vaccine ingredients. -- On June 25, 2009, Merck & Co.,
Inc., the parent company of BioMed's tenant Aton Pharma, Inc.,
raised $4.25 billion from a public offering of senior unsecured
notes. -- On June 9, 2009, NanoString Technologies raised $30
million from a private equity financing. -- On April 1, 2009,
Novavax Inc. raised approximately $10 million in net proceeds from
the sale of common stock to a subsidiary of Cadila Pharmaceuticals
as part of a new strategic alliance. -- On July 20, 2009, OncoGenex
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. raised approximately $9 million in net
proceeds from a direct common stock offering to certain
institutional investors. -- On July 22, 2009, Profectus
BioSciences, Inc. raised $5 million in a private equity financing.
-- On July 7, 2009, Zosano Pharma, Inc. raised $30 million in a
private equity financing. In addition, the company announced the
early retirement of approximately $44 million in mortgage notes
secured by its Monte Villa Parkway (Bothell, Washington), Bayshore
Boulevard (Brisbane, California) and 9885 Towne Centre Drive (San
Diego, California) properties utilizing funds from the company's
unsecured line of credit, which had a weighted average interest
rate of 1.4% on the unhedged portion of the outstanding debt at
June 30, 2009. As a result of this transaction, and following the
company's success in securing a new $350 million mortgage financing
for the Center for Life Science | Boston in June, BioMed has no
remaining consolidated debt maturities for the balance of 2009 and
2010. The company also announced today the signing of a new lease
at its Monte Villa Parkway property with AVI BioPharma, Inc.
(NASDAQ:AVII), a company focused on the discovery and development
of RNA-based drugs. AVI BioPharma has agreed to lease approximately
19,000 square feet of laboratory and office space, which was
previously leased to MDRNA, Inc. MDRNA continues to lease the
remainder of the Monte Villa Parkway property, constituting
approximately 32,000 square feet. Kent Griffin, President and Chief
Operating Officer of BioMed, commented, "The actions BioMed has
taken over the course of several months at Monte Villa Parkway
exemplify how we actively manage our portfolio and mitigate risk by
working closely with our tenants, as well as prospective tenants,
to understand their needs. In this case, we identified an
opportunity and executed on a series of transactions that enabled
us to transition underutilized space to a new tenant with
attractive growth prospects and a strong capital position. We are
very pleased to support AVI BioPharma's decision of relocating its
headquarters to the Seattle area in order to streamline its
corporate operations and upgrade its capability to add new drug
candidates to its pipeline." About BioMed Realty Trust BioMed
Realty Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused
on Providing Real Estate to the Life Science Industry . The
company's tenants primarily include biotechnology and
pharmaceutical companies, scientific research institutions,
government agencies and other entities involved in the life science
industry. BioMed Realty Trust owns or has interests in 69
properties, representing 114 buildings with approximately 10.5
million rentable square feet. The company's properties are located
predominantly in the major U.S. life science markets of Boston, San
Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New
York/New Jersey, which have well-established reputations as centers
for scientific research. Additional information is available at
http://www.biomedrealty.com/. This press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 based on current
expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to
differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, without
limitation: general risks affecting the real estate industry
(including, without limitation, the inability to enter into or
renew leases, dependence on tenants' financial condition, and
competition from other developers, owners and operators of real
estate); adverse economic or real estate developments in the life
science industry or the company's target markets; risks associated
with the availability and terms of financing, the use of debt to
fund acquisitions and developments, and the ability to refinance
indebtedness as it comes due; failure to manage effectively the
company's growth and expansion into new markets, or to complete or
integrate acquisitions and developments successfully; risks and
uncertainties affecting property development and construction;
risks associated with downturns in the national and local
economies, increases in interest rates, and volatility in the
securities markets; potential liability for uninsured losses and
environmental contamination; risks associated with the company's
potential failure to qualify as a REIT under the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended, and possible adverse changes in tax and
environmental laws; and risks associated with the company's
dependence on key personnel whose continued service is not
guaranteed. For a further list and description of such risks and
uncertainties, see the reports filed by the company with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's most
recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form
10-Q. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update
or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise. DATASOURCE: BioMed
Realty Trust, Inc. CONTACT: Rick Howe, Director, Corporate
Communications, of BioMed Realty Trust, Inc., +1-858-207-5859, Web
Site: http://www.biomedrealty.com/
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