Anyone still holding???
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 1997-- Management Change and Key Findings on Drug Resistance Position Company for Advances
Innovir Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq SmallCap: INVR.O) - a company
that has been developing technologies based on oligozymes
(catalytically active oligomers) both for the treatment and
prevention of diseases and also for genomic and pharmaceutical
research - has announced its results for the third quarter ended
September 30, 1997.
For the third quarter ending September 30, 1997, operating
expenses were $2.2 million, as compared to $0.6 million for the same
period in 1996, due principally to the acquisition of Innovir's
operations in New York in December 1996, and increased R&D spending
in the European operations.
The net loss for the third quarter of 1997 was $2.2 million, or
$0.08 per share, versus a net loss of $0.6 million, or $0.06 per
share, for the same period in 1996. Weighted average shares
outstanding for the three months ended September 30, 1997, were 28.0
million versus 9.5 million for the comparable 1996 period.
Operating expenses for the nine months ending September 30, 1997
were $7.3 million, as compared to $4.5 million for the same nine
month period in 1996. The net loss for the nine months ended
September 30, 1997, was $7.3 million, or $0.34 per share, compared to
a net loss of $4.4 million, or $0.46 per share, for the same nine
month period in 1996. Weighted average shares outstanding for the
nine months ended September 30, 1997, were 21.4 million versus 9.5
million for the comparable 1996 period.
Cash and short-term investments at September 30, 1997, were $1.8
million versus $6.4 million at December 31, 1996. Innovir's cash
position at the end of the third quarter is sufficient to cover needs
for the balance of 1997. Plans are being developed to cover cash
needs during 1998, including the likelihood that majority shareholder
VIMRX Pharmaceuticals will continue to provide funding.
"With a new, expanded management team, Innovir is well positioned
to sustain the development of oligozyme technology," said Thomas R.
Sharpe, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer. "Judging from
recent research at Yale University, we are particularly excited about
the potential that Innovir's EGS oligozymes may hold in overcoming
bacterial resistance to antibiotics. We are also aggressively
pursuing its development as a tool to aid target validation in drug
discovery and for other therapeutic purposes."
Key Developments for the Year to Date
On September 26, 1997, Dr. Sharpe was appointed to his current
position at Innovir, succeeding Allan R. Goldberg, Ph.D., as Chief
Executive Officer. Prior to this, Dr. Sharpe served as a consultant
to VIMRX Pharmaceuticals Inc. He formerly served as President and
Chief Executive Officer of OsteoArthritis Sciences, Inc., and also
spent more than 25 years in research and development as well as
management positions with The DuPont Company and The DuPont Merck
Pharmaceutical Company. Also on September 26, David A. Jackson,
Ph.D. - a member of Innovir's Board of Directors, as well as
Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of VIMRX
Pharmaceuticals - succeeded Dr. Goldberg as Innovir's Chairman.
As the foundation for its ongoing research and development,
Innovir has an exclusive worldwide license from Yale University to
commercialize EGS oligozymes, which can prevent cells from producing
excess protein, which causes many diseases. The technology is a
direct outgrowth of the work for which Dr. Sidney Altman, Sterling
Professor of Biology at Yale, was awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry. In August 1997, Dr. Altman and his colleagues announced
that they have discovered a way to use Innovir's EGS oligozymes to
make drug-resistant bacteria drug- sensitive by eliminating the
bacteria's defenses. The findings are significant because an
increasing number of diseases once thought to be under control - such
as meningitis and tuberculosis - are developing resistance to
antibiotics.
Innovir Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq SmallCap: INVR.O) - a majority-
owned subsidiary of VIMRX Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: VMRX.O) - is a
biotechnology company that has been developing technologies based on
catalytically interactive oligomers (oligozymes), for pharmaceutical
and genomic research and also for the treatment and prevention of
diseases. As a research aid, oligozymes hold potential both to
identify how different genes function and to identify and validate
molecular targets for new drug therapies. The Company's technologies
utilize either External Guide Sequences (EGS) oligozymes - which
inactivate targeted messenger RNA (mRNA) through use of cellular
enzyme RNase P - or RILON(TM) oligozymes, which inactivate targeted
mRNA directly. To complement its therapeutic and drug target
validation programs, Innovir has developed a unique drug delivery
tool called InnoPhor(TM) that makes it possible to target oligozymes
to specific tissues.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a
"safe harbor" for certain forward-looking statements. The forward-
looking statements contained in this release are subject to certain
risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from
current expectations. Among the factors which could affect the
Company's actual results and could cause results to differ from those
contained in the forward-looking statements contained herein are the
success of the Company's clinical trials and the development of
competing therapies and/or technologies by other companies.
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NOTE TO INVESTORS AND EDITORS: Innovir's press releases are
available on the Internet through VIMRX Pharmaceutical Inc.'s web
site at www.vimrx.com and through BusinessWire's web site, under the
VIMRX heading, at businesswire.com.the releases also are
available at no charge through BusinessWire's fax-on-demand service
at 800-411-8792.
--30--rh/ny*
CONTACT: VIMRX Pharmaceuticals
Media Contact:
Laura A. Mastrangelo, 302/998-1734
or
Investor Contact:
The Investor Relations Group
Dian Griesel, Ph.D., 212/664-8489
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