Acerus Receives Notice of Deficiency From Health Canada Regarding Avanafil

• Health Canada requires additional data related to avanafil drug substance

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation (TSX:ASP, OTCQB:ASPCF) (“Acerus” or the “Company”) today announced that it has received a Notice of Deficiency (“NOD”) for its avanafil New Drug Submission (NDS).

Health Canada has requested the provision of additional quality information related to the avanafil drug substance in alignment with International Council for Harmonization (ICH) technical guidance adopted by Health Canada. Until this information is provided to Health Canada, the avanafil review process has been halted. Acerus has 90 calendar days to respond fully to the NOD. If Acerus is successful in providing the required information, the NDS review process will restart and may take up to 360 days to complete.

“We are disappointed with the decision taken by Health Canada to issue the Notice of Deficiency on the avanafil submission,” said Ed Gudaitis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Acerus. “We will be working closely with Metuchen Pharmaceuticals LLC, the licensor of the product, to assess the pathway required to address the deficiency noted by Health Canada and we will provide more information as it becomes available.”

About Acerus

Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation is a Canadian-based specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the commercialization and development of innovative prescription products that improve patient experience, with a primary focus in the field of men’s health. The Company commercializes its products via its own salesforce in the United States and Canada, and through a global network of licensed distributors in other territories.

Acerus’ shares trade on TSX under the symbol ASP and on OTCQB under the symbol ASPCF. For more information, visit www.aceruspharma.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Information in this press release that is not current or historical factual information may constitute forward looking information within the meaning of securities laws. Implicit in this information are assumptions regarding our future operational results. These assumptions, although considered reasonable by the company at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned that actual performance of the company is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including with respect to the approvability of avanafil in Canada, and could differ materially from what is currently expected as set out above. In particular, these assumptions include but are not limited to, the following: the COVID-19 pandemic will not affect our business plan and that of our suppliers, the COVID-19 pandemic will not last many months and health care professionals will be available to hear about our products and to continue education programs related to them. For more exhaustive information on these risks and uncertainties you should refer to our annual information form dated March 3, 2020 which is available at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information contained in this press release is based on our current estimates, expectations and projections, which we believe are reasonable as of the current date. You should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While we may elect to, we are under no obligation and do not undertake to update this information at any particular time, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities law.