Vical Reports Third Quarter 2005 Financial Results
11/1/2005 7:31:01 AM
SAN DIEGO, Nov 01, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Vical Incorporated (VICL) today reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2005. Revenues for the third quarter of 2005 were $2.7 million compared with $2.9 million for the same period of 2004. Revenues for both periods were driven primarily by development programs supported by U.S. government grants.
The net loss for the third quarter of 2005 was $6.1 million or $0.26 per share, compared with $4.9 million or $0.21 per share for the third quarter of 2004. The increase in net loss was largely a result of increased manufacturing activity in the third quarter of 2005 for the company's independent development programs, and one-time gains on sales of investments in the third quarter of 2004. Financial results were consistent with the company's projected net loss for the full year 2005 of between $23 million and $26 million. Vical had cash and investments of $52 million at the end of the third quarter. In October 2005, the company sold approximately 4.7 million shares of its common stock in a registered direct offering to a select group of institutional investors for net proceeds of approximately $21 million.
Third Quarter Highlights
* The company granted Merck renewable options for additional cancer
targets in exchange for non-exclusive, sublicenseable rights for
vaccines against HIV, giving both companies freedom to operate in the
field. Merck also has a fixed-term option to exclusively sublicense
from Vical electroporation-enhanced delivery technology for use with
HIV vaccines, on terms to be negotiated.
* The company announced plans to develop and evaluate electroporation-
enhanced delivery of therapeutic and preventive DNA vaccines against
HIV in collaboration with the NIH.
* The company received a two-year grant from the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) to support the development of a DNA vaccine to protect
humans against pandemic avian influenza.
* The company was awarded funding from the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency for feasibility studies of a new approach for rapidly
manufacturing large quantities of DNA vaccines.
* The company successfully completed a review with the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration of its design for a Phase 2 trial of its
immunotherapeutic vaccine against cytomegalovirus (CMV) in transplant
patients.
Conference Call
Vical will conduct a conference call and webcast to discuss the financial results with invited analysts and institutional investors today, November 1, at noon Eastern Time. The call and webcast are open on a listen-only basis to any interested parties. To listen to the conference call, dial (888) 224-3260, or (913) 905-1086 for international participants. A replay of the call will be available for 48 hours beginning about two hours after the call. To listen to the replay, dial (888) 203-1112, or (719) 457-0820 for international participants, and enter conference identification number 7895541. The call also will be available live and archived through the webcast center at www.vical.com. For further information, contact Vical's Investor Relations department by phone at (858) 646-1127 or by e-mail at info@vical.com.
About Vical
Vical researches and develops biopharmaceutical products based on its patented DNA delivery technologies for the prevention and treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases. Potential applications of the company's DNA delivery technology include DNA vaccines for infectious diseases or cancer, in which the expressed protein is an immunogen; cancer immunotherapeutics, in which the expressed protein is an immune system stimulant; and cardiovascular therapies, in which the expressed protein is an angiogenic growth factor. The company has retained all rights to its internally developed product candidates. In addition, the company collaborates with major pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies that give it access to complementary technologies or greater resources. These strategic partnerships provide the company with mutually beneficial opportunities to expand its product pipeline and serve significant unmet medical needs. Additional information on Vical is available at www.vical.com. |
