CANGENE REORGANIZES WORKFORCE IN ITS CANADIAN OPERATIONS TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY

Readers are referred to the cautionary notes regarding
Forward-looking Information at the end of this release

Listed TSX, Symbol:  CNJ

TORONTO AND WINNIPEG, April 7 /CNW/ - Cangene Corporation (TSX: CNJ) today announces that it is making organizational changes in its Canadian operations to reflect decreased U.S. government contract-manufacturing activity and to align its workforce with the Company's growing strategic focus on its commercial products.  These factors, combined with the Company's commitment to increase operational efficiency, have driven a workforce reduction.  Between August 1, 2010 and January 31, 2011, approximately 60 positions were eliminated mainly through attrition.  Today, approximately 40 additional positions were eliminated by way of terminations.  This brings the total number of positions eliminated in the current fiscal year to approximately 100, representing 12% of the Company's total workforce.  The Company will concentrate resources on pipeline development through product acquisition, partnering arrangements and internal R&D.  In addition, as it continues to complete the remaining activities under the existing U.S. government contracts, the Company will evaluate any new opportunities that fall within the scope of its reduced contract-manufacturing operations.  The U.S. contract-manufacturing operations of Cangene's Baltimore-based subsidiary, Cangene bioPharma, Inc., are unaffected by this reorganization.

"In the last several years, our primary focus has been on fulfilling our U.S. government contractual obligations.  With manufacturing of bulk product for these contracts largely completed and our belief that any future U.S. government contracts will be at lower volumes to maintain existing stockpiles, we are increasing our focus on commercial product growth opportunities.  This reorganization makes our Canadian operations leaner and better able to grow and achieve our goals, which include the development of new products such as the anti-infective, IGIV," said Michael Graham, Cangene's acting president and chief executive officer.

About Cangene Corporation
Cangene is one of Canada's largest and earliest biopharmaceutical companies.  It was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Cangene has approximately 700 employees in six locations across North America and its products are sold worldwide.  It operates manufacturing facilities in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Baltimore, Maryland.  Cangene operates three U.S. and one Canadian plasma-collection facilities branded as Cangene Plasma Resources (www.cangeneplasma.com).  In addition, it has a regulatory affairs, sales and corporate communications office in Toronto, Ontario.

Cangene is focused on developing therapeutics for infectious diseases, and the Company uses patented manufacturing processes to produce plasma-derived and recombinant therapeutic proteins. Cangene has four FDA and/or Health Canada-approved hyperimmune products.  In addition, the Company has several more products in development at various stages.  Three of Cangene's products have been accepted into the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile—botulism antitoxin (investigational product), anthrax immune globulin (investigational product) and a vaccinia immune globulin, a product that may be used to counteract certain complications that may arise from smallpox vaccination.  Cangene's wholly-owned subsidiary, Cangene bioPharma, Inc., is based in Baltimore, Maryland and includes its U.S. commercial sales and marketing office as well as a significant contract-manufacturing business (www.cangenebiopharma.com).  Cangene's website, www.cangene.com, includes product and investor information, including past news releases.

Forward-looking and risk information
The reader should be aware that Cangene's businesses are subject to risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified; consequently, actual results may differ materially from past results and those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements.  Factors that could cause or contribute to such risks or uncertainties include, but are not limited to:  the regulatory environment including the difficulty of predicting regulatory outcomes; changes in the value of the Canadian dollar; the Company's reliance on a small number of customers including government organizations; the demand for new products and the impact of competitive products, service and pricing; availability and cost of raw materials, especially the cost, availability and antibody concentration in plasma; fluctuations in operating results; government policies or actions; progress and cost of clinical trials; reliance on key strategic relationships; costs and possible development delays resulting from use of legal, regulatory or legislative strategies by the Company's competitors; uncertainty related to intellectual property protection and potential costs associated with its defence; the Company's exposure to lawsuits; and other matters beyond control of management.  Risks and uncertainties are discussed more extensively in the MD&A section of the Company's most recent annual report and annual information form, which are available on the Company's website or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The preceding cautionary statements should be considered in connection with all written or oral statements, especially forward-looking statements, that are made by the Company or by persons acting on its behalf and in conjunction with its periodic filings with Securities Commissions, including those contained in the Company's news releases and most recently filed annual information form.  Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "expects", "plans", "will", "believes", "estimates", "anticipates", "intends", "may", "bodes" and other words of similar meaning (including negative and grammatical variations).  Should known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, or should management's assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could vary materially from those anticipated. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly make or update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.

"Cangene" is a trademark belonging to Cangene Corporation.

For further information:

Cangene Corporation, please contact Michael Graham at
[phone] or by email at [e-mail].