Acasti & Neptune Enter Into Transactional Arrangement & Sign Operational Agreements

• Supports Neptune in financing transaction by granting limited recourse pledge in the amount of $2.0M CDN
• Entered into positive operational arrangements with Neptune, including a  licensing agreement to market Onemia®

LAVAL, Québec, Jan. 07, 2016 -- Acasti Pharma Inc. (“Acasti” or the “Corporation”) (ACST) (APO.V), an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of new krill oil-based forms of omega-3 phospholipid therapies for the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia, announces that it has entered into a transactional arrangement and signed operational agreements with its parent company, Neptune Technologies and Bioressources Inc. (“Neptune”).  All amounts in Canadian dollars.

“We are pleased to have been able to assist Neptune with their growth initiatives, while entering into favourable operational arrangements, including a licensing agreement in which Neptune will now market and sell Onemia®,” highlighted Pierre Lemieux, PhD, Acasti’s Chief Operating Officer.  Onemia® is a unique, proprietary krill oil-based omega-3 phospholipid, which is defined as a medical food. 

“Given Neptune's leadership in innovation, sales and marketing in the omega-3 space, it is the ideal partner to maximize the potential of Onemia®.  As a result of this licensing agreement, Acasti is able to be singularly focused on the development pathway for its prescription drug candidate, CaPre®, while further leveraging its  medical food asset.”

On January 7, 2016 Neptune announced its acquisition of Biodroga Inc., a leading dietary solution provider.  As part of the borrowing arrangements for this transaction, Acasti has agreed to support Neptune by granting to the Bank a limited recourse pledge in the amount of $2.0 million (the “Committed Funds”), in accordance with a security agreement with respect to deposits entered into between the Bank and Acasti at closing of the acquisition of Biodroga (the “Pledge Agreement”).  The Bank will not have any personal recourse against Acasti, nor the assets of Acasti, other than the Committed Funds assigned in the Pledge Agreement.  As such, the $2.0 million assigned in the Pledge Agreement should be considered as restricted cash and not available to Acasti until released by the Bank or reduced by Neptune. 

Neptune has agreed to pay Acasti pursuant to a fee agreement (the “Fee Agreement”) an annual fee on the Committed Funds outstanding at an annual rate of (i) 9% during the first six months, and (ii) 11% for the remaining term of the Pledge Agreement.

In connection with the completion of the transaction, Neptune and Acasti have also entered into operational agreements pertaining to: (i) the marketing by Neptune of Onemia®, a medical food of Acasti, pursuant to which Acasti will receive a royalty payment of 17.5% on net sales made by Neptune, (ii) the reduction of the operational charges payable by Acasti to Neptune, and (iii) the fixing of the selling cost of the Raw Krill Oil (RKO) material provided by Neptune to Acasti for CaPre® Phase 3 clinical trials.