Thursday October 25, 5:03 pm Eastern Time
Aviron posts wider third-quarter loss
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct 25 (Reuters) - Vaccine developer Aviron (NasdaqNM:AVIR - news) on Thursday reported a wider third-quarter net loss amid higher spending on its experimental nasal flu vaccine, FluMist.
The company reported a net loss of $31.1 million, or $1.00 per basic share, compared to a net loss of $18.8 million, or 87 cents per share, for the third quarter of 2000. Revenues totaled $3.7 million, compared to $3.6 million for the third quarter of 2000.
Aviron said its operating expenses rose to $36.3 million from $22.4 million, while research and development costs rose to $31.5 million from $19.0 million. For the full year, Aviron said it expects operating expenditures between $140 million and $145 million.
The company said its goal is to launch FluMist in 2002 and participate in the 2002-2003 influenza season to the greatest extent possible, but because it is still in the process of responding to a request from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for additional information, it has not made any revenue projections for 2002, nor does we expect to generate sufficient revenue from FluMist sales to achieve profitability in 2002.
Aviron said it expect capital expenditures to increase substantially as it commences building additional manufacturing facilities and commercialization systems. For this year, it forecast capital expenditures of between $20 million and $30 million. |
