Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- BioTransplant Incorporated (Nasdaq: BTRN - news) today reported financial results for the third quarter and nine-month period ended September 30, 2000. For the third quarter ended September 30, 2000, the Company reported a net loss of $2,500,000 or $0.21 per share, compared to a net loss of $602,000 or $0.07 per share for the quarter ended September 30, 1999. Weighted average shares outstanding for the third quarters ended September 30, 2000 and 1999 were approximately 11.7 million and 8.6 million, respectively.
Revenues were $1,825,000 for the quarter ended September 30, 2000, compared to $3,895,000 reported for the same quarter last year. This anticipated decrease in revenues was primarily due to the receipt, in September of 1999, of a $2.5 million research milestone payment from the Company's collaboration with Novartis AG, offset by increased interest income due to higher cash balances available for investment and increased interest rates.
For the nine month period ended September 30, 2000, the Company reported a net loss of $7,408,000 or $0.65 per share, compared to a net loss of $6,461,000 or $0.75 per share, for the same period in 1999. The Company reported cash, cash equivalents, and investments of $19,381,000 at September 30, 2000.
On September 26, 2000, BioTransplant and Novartis Pharma AG announced the formation of a new xenotransplantation research company that, they believe, can achieve greater success in moving xenotransplantation to the clinic by combining the expertise of both companies. The new company, whose research activities will be based in Boston, USA begins operations on January 1, 2001.
``The new company is an opportunity for Novartis and BioTransplant to gain the benefits of focusing more intensely on the synergies of their xenotransplantation research programs,'' said Elliot Lebowitz, CEO of BioTransplant. ``This will also allow BioTransplant to strengthen its focus on the AlloMune(TM) family of products.''
BioTransplant also presented data at the XVIII Meeting of the International Congress of the Transplantation Society in Rome, Italy, indicating that the Company may be able to develop a breed of pig that does not produce porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) capable of productively infecting human cells. BioTransplant believes that the availability of cells, tissues, and organs from these pigs will improve the safety of xenotransplantation. |
