Aurora Biosciences Reports Revenue Growth of 90% and ProfitFor Fiscal Year 1999
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SAN DIEGO, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Aurora Biosciences Corporation (Nasdaq: ABSC) today announced financial results for 1999. Aurora reported total revenue of $50.3 million and net income of $0.2 million, or $0.01 per share, for the year ended December 31, 1999, compared to revenue of $26.5 million and a net loss of $18.7 million, or $1.14 per share, for the year ended December 31, 1998.
For the fourth quarter 1999, Aurora reported revenue of $19.9 million and net income of $6.7 million, or $0.35 per share on a diluted basis, compared to revenue of $8.3 million and net loss of $4.9 million, or $0.30 per share on a diluted basis, for the fourth quarter 1998.
Revenue in 1999 was 90% higher than in 1998. The increase came from three areas: discovery services (including genomics and assay development), systems (including the UHTSS(TM) Platform and focused discovery systems) and intellectual property licensing (including over two million dollars of payments received in the fourth quarter) as well as recognized revenues associated with the deliveries of Modules One and Two of the UHTSS Platform to its customers. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased for the year as Aurora continued to expand its sales and marketing infrastructure. Research and development expenses declined and cost of revenue increased for the year as the UHTSS Platform moved closer to its final technical development.
"1999 has been an important year for Aurora. We have established leadership in genomics, discovery services and discovery technologies through agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Successes in 1999 demonstrate our progress toward our goal to industrialize drug discovery," said Stuart J.M. Collinson, Ph.D., Aurora's chief executive officer and president. "We are dedicated to helping our customers find higher quality new lead medicines faster and more productively. Throughout 2000 we will seek to commercialize our proprietary technologies and expand our innovative research programs."
"Our revenue growth during 1999 resulted from both new sales of Aurora services, systems and technology, as well as continued expansion of our current alliances," said John R. Pashkowsky, Aurora's senior director, finance and treasurer. "Aurora has grown from $2 million in revenue in 1996 to $50 million in revenue in 1999. We have broadened our customer base and are well-positioned for continued growth in 2000."
Key new agreements announced in 1999 included a comprehensive agreement with Pfizer, Inc. to access a substantial selection of Aurora's technology; ion channel technology agreements with Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, Glaxo Wellcome, American Home Products and Merck and Co. Inc.; genomics agreements with Merck and Co. Inc., Warner-Lambert, Becton Dickinson and the National Cancer Institute; screen development and screening services agreements with Pharmacia & Upjohn, F. Hoffmann-LaRoche Ltd. and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; and numerous licensing agreements allowing companies, including Genentech, to access Aurora's technologies. Deliveries continued throughout the year on Modules One and Two of the ultra-high throughput screening system (the UHTSS Platform), as well as portions of the automated master compound store (the AMCS), and Aurora's ion channel technology platform (the VIPR(TM)). Aurora also continued to provide screen development and screening services to existing customers.
The Company's objective for 2000 is to continue increasing revenue, with modest expense increases, and to maintain profitability for the full year. Prospectively, significant fluctuations in quarterly financial performance will be encountered depending on factors such as revenue recognized from any future contracts and collaborations, timing of the delivery of technologies and systems and the completion of contracted service commitments to Aurora's collaborators. Accordingly, revenues and operating results for prior periods may not be predictive of Aurora's future financial results. One or more quarters may show a net loss.
Aurora will continue to invest in new technologies to expand its core drug discovery capabilities. Management expects that strategic opportunities, including potential acquisitions of technologies or assets, may arise to broaden the Company's participation in drug discovery and to extend the utilization of Aurora's proprietary fluorescent bioassay technology and UHTSS Platform. Investments of this nature result in significant accounting charges or fluctuations in operating results, and could impose significant integration challenges for the Company. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to complete any such transactions on favorable terms or at all.
Aurora combines innovative biotechnology with its novel, high-technology automation and software to provide solutions to challenges in drug discovery for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The Company's core technologies include a broad portfolio of proprietary fluorescence assay technologies; its functional genomics GenomeScreen(TM) program; and its ultra-high throughput screening system (UHTSS(TM) Platform) and subsystems to miniaturize and automate assays derived from those technologies within a computer-controlled integrated system, capable of searching through expansive libraries of compounds to identify those that might lead to new medicines. Aurora seeks to become a leader in providing services, technology and information that enhance and accelerate its customers' ability to discover new therapeutics through three main strategies: (1) providing customized drug discovery services, allowing the customer to outsource some part or all of its discovery needs, (2) developing and selling systems, instruments and technologies to augment the customer's own discovery efforts, and (3) licensing the Company's growing intellectual property portfolio. Current customers include American Home Products, Becton Dickinson, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Clontech Laboratories, Inc., Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Cytovia, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Exelixis Pharmaceuticals, F.Hoffmann-LaRoche Ltd., Genentech, Inc., Glaxo Wellcome, Merck & Co., Inc., National Cancer Institute, Pfizer, Inc., and Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc and Warner-Lambert. For additional information on Aurora's services and products, please contact Sales and Marketing via email at marcom@aurorabio.com or by phone at (858) 404-8508.
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward-looking" statements which involve a high degree of risk and uncertainty. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding future revenues, cost reductions and profitability, continued commercialization and expansion of research programs, and potential acquisitions and strategic opportunities. Such statements reflect corporate goals or objectives and the actual events or results may differ materially from those described in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences include risks regarding the ability to attract additional collaborative partners, the Company's dependence on existing and future pharmaceutical and biotechnology collaborations, the Company's ability to timely complete the development, manufacture and assembly of its technologically complex UHTSS Platform and AMCS system, the Company's new and uncertain technology, dependence on patents and proprietary rights, timing of expenditures related to development of the Company's products and technology, and the development or availability of competing systems. These factors and others are more fully described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1998 and subsequent Forms 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For additional corporate information, visit the Aurora website at aurorabio.com.
UHTSS(TM), GenomeScreen(TM) and VIPR(TM) are trademarks of Aurora Biosciences Corporation.
AURORA BIOSCIENCES CORPORATION
SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
Statement of Operations data:
Quarters ended Years ended
December 31, December 31,
1999 1998 1999 1998
(Unaudited)
Revenue $19,883 $8,346 $50,324 $26,538
Operating expenses:
Cost of revenue 8,051 7,691 27,779 23,777
Research and development 2,294 4,140 11,593 17,146
Selling, general and
administrative 2,992 1,760 11,535 6,067
Total operating expenses 13,337 13,591 50,907 46,990
Interest, net 248 310 852 1,799
Income (loss) before taxes 6,794 (4,935) 269 (18,653)
Income taxes (117) -- (117) --
Net income (loss) $6,677 $(4,935) $152 $(18,653)
Basic net income (loss)
per share $0.39 $(0.30) $0.01 $ (1.14)
Diluted net income (loss)
per share $0.35 $(0.30) $0.01 $ (1.14)
Weighted-average shares
outstanding:
Basic 17,224 16,591 16,967 16,312
Diluted 19,066 16,591 18,241 16,312
Balance Sheet data: December 31, 1999 December 31, 1998
Cash, cash equivalents and
investments $36,618 $28,026
Total assets 63,862 50,955
Capital lease and loan obligations,
less current portion 4,343 4,788
Accumulated deficit (21,579) (21,731)
Total stockholders' equity 40,314 37,542
SOURCE Aurora Biosciences Corporation
CO: Aurora Biosciences Corporation
ST: California
IN: HEA BIO
SU: ERN
02/09/2000 16:00 EST prnewswire.com |
