Northfield Laboratories Inc. announced that it signed an agreement with First Industrial, L.P., to purchase the building Northfield currently occupies as lessee in Mt. Prospect, IL for $6.7 million. The transaction is scheduled to close in late June, subject to customary terms and conditions.

This 106,000 square foot property will be used for Northfield's first planned commercial facility for the manufacture of PolyHeme, the company's human haemoglobin-based oxygen carrier, as well as to house laboratory, quality, and administrative personnel. Engineering and size optimization activities for the space are already underway, as previously announced. It is expected that the facility will be capable of producing approximately 100,000 units or more of PolyHeme annually. The company has indicated that the major capital expenditure associated with this expansion will not occur until topline data from the current trauma trial has been analyzed and reported, sometime in the fall.

"Purchasing the building where we will manufacture PolyHeme is a major step toward realizing our commercialization plans," said Steven A. Gould, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer. "Owning the space allows us the autonomy and flexibility we need to meet the anticipated market demand for a product that has the potential to sustain lives that otherwise might be lost."

The company also announced that enrolment is nearing completion in its pivotal phase III trauma study. Approximately 700 patients of the planned total of 720 have been enrolled at Level I trauma centres across the United States.

"Reaching the 700 patient mark is a tribute to the dedication and commitment of the investigators, their institutions and the EMS providers participating in this complex and groundbreaking study," said Gould. "We look forward to completion and to reporting on the trial results," he added.

Northfield Laboratories Inc. is a leader in developing an oxygen-carrying resuscitative fluid for the treatment of urgent, large volume blood loss in trauma and resultant surgical settings.