CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Variagenics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VGNX - news), a leader in pharmacogenomics, the science that correlates genetic variation with drug response, today announced results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2001.
For the first quarter of 2001, revenues were $1.1 million compared with $0.1 million for the same period in 2000. The first quarter net loss excluding non-cash equity compensation was $2.6 million, or $0.11 per share (basic and diluted).
The Company ended the first quarter with $95.4 million in cash and marketable securities.
``This was an exciting quarter for Variagenics,'' said Taylor J. Crouch, President and CEO of Variagenics. ``Since January, we have made significant progress in commercializing our pharmacogenomic technologies, securing critical intellectual property, driving forward our own research programs and building our organization.''
Highlights of the year to date include:
* Variagenics continued to commercialize its pharmacogenomic technologies
by initiating a new Variagenic® Impact Program (VIP) with Amgen Inc.
The Company also expanded its VIP with Boehringer Ingelheim
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and advanced its VIP with Isis Pharmaceuticals,
Inc.
* Variagenics placed its NuCleave(TM) genotyping and haplotyping system
at the Amsterdam Genomics Center (AmGC) at the University of Amsterdam,
for use in pharmacogenomic and population studies.
* Variagenics developed a breakthrough computational method for analyzing
the functional consequences of certain single nucleotide polymorphisms
(SNPs). The method was published in the March 23, 2001 issue of
Journal of Molecular Biology (Vol. 307, No. 2: 683-702). Using this
molecular modeling methodology, Variagenics is able to sift through SNP
data and identify the most influential genetic variations in a patient
population, a process critical for applying pharmacogenomics to
clinical trials.
* The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued to Variagenics a
patent for variance discovery entitled "Probes for Variance Detection."
This patent describes a family of methods to identify the haplotypes of
genes associated with variation in patient response to drugs.
* The United States Patent and Trademark Office also issued a patent to
Variagenics which covers inventions relating to loss of heterozygosity
(LOH), a process that results in the loss of genetic material in cancer
cells. This patent, the Company's third cancer-related patent, is
integral to Variagenics' strategy of applying pharmacogenomics to the
development of individualized drugs and diagnostics for cancer and
other non-malignant proliferative disorders.
* The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent involving
a method for detecting a variant of an important gene,
methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) in an individual. This
patent, assigned to McGill University, is the second issued
MTHFR-related patent exclusively licensed to Variagenics. MTHFR is a
key enzyme in the folate metabolism pathway and has been associated
with a number of important therapeutic areas such as schizophrenia,
colon cancer and other cardiovascular and neurological disorders.
These MTHFR patents and Variagenics' recent acquisition of rights to
several issued patents related to ApoE, one of the most widely studied
genes, bolsters the Company's portfolio of gene-specific intellectual
property.
Variagenics will hold a conference call at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time today. Taylor J. Crouch, President and CEO, will lead the call. Richard P. Shea, Vice President, CFO and Treasurer, and Colin W. Dykes, Ph.D., Vice President, Research, also will participate.
Date: Tuesday, May 1, 2001
Time: 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time
Conference call numbers
Toll-free: (800) 946-0713
Toll/international: (719) 457-2642
Webcast: www.variagenics.com |
