>>SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cell Genesys, Inc. (Nasdaq: CEGE - News) reported a net loss of $20.9 million, or $0.52 per share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2004. This compares with a net loss of $17.4 million, or $0.47 per share, in the same quarter of 2003. Cell Genesys ended the quarter with approximately $194.4 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, including restricted cash and investments. This includes the proceeds from the company's recently completed public stock offering. In addition, at the end of the first quarter, Cell Genesys held approximately 7.0 million shares of its former subsidiary, Abgenix, Inc.
Revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2004 were $2.6 million compared with $1.0 million for the comparable period in 2003, an increase reflecting revenues from the company's strategic alliance with Novartis AG for oncolytic virus therapies. The company's research and development costs for the quarter were $22.6 million, compared with $21.1 million for the first quarter of 2003, an increase that can be attributed principally to the company's expanding clinical trials and other product development activities in both its GVAX® cancer vaccine and oncolytic virus therapy programs.
"We remain committed to managing our financial resources optimally to achieve our mission of developing and commercializing novel biological therapies for patients with cancer," stated Stephen A. Sherwin, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of Cell Genesys. "While we continue to pursue multiple clinical-stage programs in parallel, our primary focus remains on initiating Phase 3 trials for GVAX® prostate cancer vaccine, our lead product development program."
First Quarter 2004 and Other Recent Highlights:
-- Completed a public offering of 4,250,000 shares of common stock along
with an additional 637,500 shares of common stock pursuant to the
exercise of the entire over-allotment option by the underwriters. The
shares were priced at $12.50 per share resulting in total gross
proceeds to Cell Genesys of approximately $61.1 million.
-- Reported that GVAX(R) cancer vaccine and docetaxel chemotherapy
exhibited synergistic antitumor activity when tested in a mouse tumor
model. These preclinical studies provide support for the company's
Phase 3 development program for its lead product, GVAX(R) prostate
cancer vaccine, which includes two Phase 3 clinical trials, one of
which will evaluate GVAX(R) prostate cancer vaccine in combination with
docetaxel chemotherapy. These preclinical data were presented by Cell
Genesys scientists at the American Association of Cancer Research
(AACR) Meeting in Orlando, FL.
-- Announced the development of an oncolytic (cancer cell-killing) virus
with the potential ability to target and kill over 85 percent of cancer
types in preclinical studies. CG5757, a virus designed to replicate
preferentially in and kill cancer cells, demonstrated statistically
significant antitumor efficacy in mouse tumor models of lung and
bladder cancer, reducing tumor growth rates by 81 and 88 percent,
respectively. Cell Genesys scientists also presented these preclinical
data at the AACR Meeting in Orlando, FL.
-- Announced the acceptance of three abstracts for presentation at the
2004 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, which
will take place in New Orleans, LA, June 5 - June 8. The three
accepted abstracts pertain to clinical trials of GVAX(R) prostate
cancer vaccine, GVAX(R) leukemia vaccine and CG7870 oncolytic virus
therapy.<<
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Benefitting from those ABGX holdings, what with the OSI effect today.
Cheers, Tuck |
