ACLARA Announces Third Quarter 2001 Financial Results
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct 29, 2001 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- ACLARA BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACLA chart, msgs) today reported financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2001. Pro forma results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2001 were net losses of $5.1 million and $14.4 million or $0.14 and $0.41 per share, respectively, compared with pro forma net losses for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2000 of $6.6 million and $13.7 million or $0.20 and $0.45 per share, respectively. Pro forma earnings per share results have met or exceeded consensus estimates for 3 sequential quarters. ACLARA's cash burn for the past four months has remained steady at approximately $1.5 million per month.
Pro forma net loss assumes conversion of preferred stock at the time of original issuance. In addition, pro forma net loss excludes non-cash stock-based compensation expense and a non-cash revaluation charge associated with the put obligation incurred with a previously announced settlement of litigation. Including these non-cash items and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, net losses for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2001 were $9.1 million and $22.1 million or $0.26 and $0.63 per share, respectively, compared with net losses for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2000 of $9.6 million and $20.4 million or $0.28 and $0.61 per share, respectively.
Revenues for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2001 were $507,000 and $2.3 million, respectively, compared with revenues for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2000 of $946,000 and $2.7 million, respectively. The decrease in revenues resulted from decreases in government grants and collaboration revenue.
Operating expenses for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2001 were $11.3 million and $30.8 million, respectively, compared with operating expenses for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2000 of $12.8 million and $28.7 million, respectively. The decrease in operating expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2001 compared with the three months ended September 30, 2000 reflects lower selling, general and administrative expenses and lower non-cash stock-based compensation expense, being partially offset by expanded research and development activities and a non-cash revaluation expense of a put obligation. The increase in operating expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2001 compared with the nine months ended September 30, 2000 reflects expanded research and development activities, a non-cash revaluation expense of a put obligation, being partially offset by lower selling, general and administrative expenses and lower non-cash stock-based compensation expense.
Net interest income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2001 was $1.7 million and $6.4 million, respectively, compared with net interest income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2000 of $3.4 million and $6.7 million, respectively. Net interest income decreased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2001 compared with the three months ended September 30, 2000, primarily reflecting a general decline in market interest rates.
Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term and long-term marketable investments totaled $177.3 million at September 30, 2001 compared with $194.4 million at December 31, 2000.
Product Development and Commercialization
ACLARA is developing a portfolio of products for life science research including assay chemistries for use with existing detection equipment, stand-alone microfluidic consumables (i.e., LabCard(TM) devices which operate on existing hardware), and integrated microfluidic systems which incorporate LabCards and assay chemistries. ACLARA made significant progress in its product development and commercialization programs this quarter, as summarized below:
eTag(TM) Reagents and Assays
ACLARA made important progress in continued development of its eTag technology, expansion of this technology to proteomics, and in laying the foundation for commercializing this technology for both genomics and proteomics applications. Recent progress includes the following:
-- Establishment of a collaboration with Third Wave Technologies to
combine ACLARA's eTag technology with Third Wave's Invader(R) platform
for gene expression and genotyping applications.
-- Signing of a major pharmaceutical company, Johnson and Johnson
Corporation, as ACLARA's first eTag early access customer.
-- Initiation of a focused marketing program to introduce the eTag
technology to potential customers in the pharmaceutical and
biotechnology industry through trade shows and customer visits.
-- Initiation of pilot feasibility studies for several prospective
customers spanning multiple markets and applications, including
genomics, proteomics and clinical diagnostics.
Joseph M. Limber, President and CEO, commented, "Development of the eTag technology continued to exceed our expectations, as evidenced by the rapid pace at which we are expanding this technology to proteomics applications. Based on this technical progress, we have begun to introduce both genomics and proteomics eTag-based assays into the market through an early access program. The initial response to this program has been extremely positive. We have initiated pilot feasibility programs with several top prospects and have recently signed our first early access customer, Johnson and Johnson. We expect that products based on the eTag technology will be a major focus of our commercialization efforts in 2002 and beyond."
GeneMate Reader
During the third quarter, ACLARA delivered its first GeneMate system to a pharmaceutical company partner, Johnson and Johnson (J & J) thereby achieving ACLARA's stated goal. ACLARA, J&J and Applied Biosystems agreed to modify their drug screening collaboration agreements enabling ACLARA and J&J to collaborate directly on this program. The GeneMate system consists of a disposable 32-channel LabCard device, a priming station that automates the loading of samples and buffer onto the LabCards, and a reader for sample processing and analysis. The system is designed to enable rapid development of enzyme assays and various eTag-based assays for drug discovery research.
Plurex(TM) DNA Sample Preparation
The development of a proprietary LabCard chip-based solution to the problem of PCR amplicon generation in high throughput SNP scoring is well advanced, and ACLARA plans to engage its first external validation partners in the fourth quarter. The product enables a 10-fold enhancement of PCR multiplexing capability through the concept of spatial multiplexing, wherein multiple PCR reactions are performed in a single microfluidic channel. As a result, the Plurex product addresses a major front-end bottleneck common to virtually all high throughput SNP scoring methods. The Plurex product allows individual PCR products to be generated without interference from adjacent reactions, and minimizes reagent consumption while at the same time requiring no sub - microliter liquid handling step. The Plurex platform is intended to be compatible with all of the major SNP scoring technologies in use today, including capillary electrophoresis, mass spectrometry and microarrays.
Arteas(TM)
During the third quarter, ACLARA explored several strategic alternatives for enhancing the market presence of Arteas LabCard products. As a result of this effort, ACLARA recently entered into a collaboration with a global life sciences company for marketing and distribution of Arteas LabCard products. ACLARA expects that its marketing partner can bring significantly greater market reach and global presence in the marketing of Arteas products. Also, recent commercial introductions of nanoliter volume liquid dispensers are anticipated to enhance market utility of Arteas LabCard products by enabling cost savings from Arteas assay miniaturization to be incorporated into high throughput drug screening systems.
Biohazard Detection
In recent weeks, ACLARA has received numerous enquiries regarding our technology development activities related to biohazard detection. For clarification, in January of this year, ACLARA began work under a 2.5-year, $2.2 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense related to biohazard detection. The goal of this program is to apply several of ACLARA's proprietary technologies toward the development of a functional laboratory prototype system for detecting agents that may be used in biological warfare. This laboratory prototype system is expected to employ ACLARA's microfluidics technologies, as well as the Company's proprietary eTag technology for multiparameter testing. One of the anticipated advantages of the eTag-based detection strategy is the ability to detect multiple targets (e.g., multiple biological agents, or genetic variants of a single agent) in each sample.
Joseph M. Limber, president and CEO, commented, "While we are still in the early stages of the DARPA program, we are very pleased with the progress made to date and the prospects for further advancements under this program. I would also add that the activities under the DARPA program are highly complementary to other research and development programs within ACLARA, such as the application of the eTag technology in life science research."
Intellectual Property
ACLARA continues to build a broad patent estate to protect the Company's diversified product lines, including intellectual property on assay technologies (e.g., products based on the eTag technology), stand-alone microfluidic consumable products (e.g., the Arteas and Plurex products), and integrated microfluidic systems (including the GeneMate system). This year alone, ACLARA has filed over 40 patent applications, increasing ACLARA's total number of patents and patent applications to over 200.
During the third quarter, there was an important addition to the microfluidics segment of ACLARA's patent portfolio. In November, 2000, ACLARA announced that it had acquired an exclusive license to microfluidics intellectual property resulting from the work of Andreas Manz and colleagues at Ciba Geigy (now Novartis) in the early 1990's. In August 2001, the US Patent Office issued patent 6,280,589, which falls under this exclusive license. The Manz patent, entitled "Method for controlling sample introduction in microcolumn separation techniques and sampling device" was originally filed in April 1993, and contains broad claims relating to the introduction of a sample at an intersection on a microfluidic device. ACLARA believes that the sample introduction technique set out in this patent is important for performing high-quality electrophoresis separations on microfluidic chips.
NOTE: ACLARA will conduct a conference call with the investment community at 10:00 a.m. EST (7:00 a.m. PST) on October 29, 2001 to discuss the three and nine months ended September 30, 2001 financial results and review the company's progress. Interested parties can access this call at: videonewswire.com
If you are not able to listen to the live call, a replay will be available by dialing 800-642-1687, access code 2161474, International 706-645-9291 access code 2161474.
ACLARA BioSciences is a leading developer of assay technologies and lab-on-a-chip systems for life science research. The company is developing advanced tools for drug discovery, genomics and proteomics using its proprietary eTag assay chemistries and microfluidics array technology. ACLARA's business strategy is to commercialize its assay chemistries and microfluidic LabCard devices for use in conjunction with existing instrument platforms, as well as to integrate its assay chemistries and microfluidic technologies to commercialize powerful, new instrument systems. More information on ACLARA can be obtained on the Company's recently revised web site at www.aclara.com.
Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those discussed herein. These and other risks related to ACLARA are under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in ACLARA's SEC filings, including the Prospectus dated August 31, 2000 relating to the Registration Statement on Form S-8, the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed April 2, 2001 and the Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed May 15, 2001 and August 14, 2001.
ACLARA BIOSCIENCES, INC.
(A Company in the Development Stage)
CONDENSED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
September 30, September 30,
2001 2000 2001 2000
Revenues $507 $946 $2,290 $2,736
Costs and Operating expenses:
Research and development 5,787 3,329 16,475 9,903
Selling, general
and administrative 2,190 4,735 7,241 10,408
Stock-based compensation 514 2,960 1,867 6,615
Litigation settlement 2,839 1,750 5,227 1,750
Total operating expenses 11,330 12,774 30,810 28,676
Loss from operations (10,823) (11,828) (28,520) (25,940)
Interest income, net 1,737 3,357 6,400 6,686
Net loss before
extraordinary loss (9,086) (8,471) (22,120) (19,254)
Extraordinary loss on
early retirement of debt -- (1,103) -- (1,103)
Net loss $(9,086) $(9,574) $(22,120) $(20,357)
Pro forma net loss (A) (5,133) (6,614) (14,426) (13,742)
Net loss per share (0.26) (0.28) (0.63) (0.61)
Pro forma net loss per share (A) (0.14) (0.20) (0.41) (0.45)
Shares used in net loss
per share calculation 35,525 33,783 35,111 33,554
Shares used in pro forma
net loss per share
calculation (A) 35,525 33,783 35,111 30,686
(A) Pro forma calculations exclude non-cash charges for stock-based
deferred compensation and a non-cash revaluation of a put option, and
assumed conversion of preferred stock at the time of original
issuance.
BALANCE SHEET HIGHLIGHTS
(in thousands)
September 30, December 31,
2001 2000
(unaudited)
Cash, cash equivalents, short-term
and long-term investments $142,664 $192,612
Restricted cash $34,625 $1,750
Total assets $188,088 $203,008
Stockholders' equity $156,907 $164,555
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Source: ACLARA BioSciences, Inc.
Contact:
Joseph M. Limber or Victor Menon of ACLARA BioSciences, Inc.,
+1-650-210-1200
URL: aclara.com |
