Icos warns of wider-than-expected loss in 2002
By Toni Clarke
NEW YORK, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Icos Corp. (NasdaqNM:ICOS - news), which hopes to launch a rival to Pfizer Inc.'s (NYSE:PFE - news) impotence drug Viagra later this year, said its fourth-quarter loss widened and warned that its loss in 2002 will be greater than analysts had expected.
The company said the cost of launching its new impotence drug, Cialis, are likely to be higher than expected. Michael Stein, the company's chief financial officer, told investors on a conference call that Icos expected to lose between $2.70 a share and $2.95 a share in 2002.
Analysts had expected the company to lose between $1.00 a share and $2.57 a share, with an average estimate of $1.80 a share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.
``I would look at this projected loss as a negative,'' said Daniel Noble, an analyst at Noble Financial Group. ``You would want them to say they expect sales of Cialis to offset extra costs.''
In the latest quarter, revenue at the Bothell, Washington-based biotechnology company fell 33 percent to $21.6 million from $32.2 million as milestone payments for Cialis dropped off once development of the drug was completed last June. The company is waiting for final regulatory approval to market the drug.
At the same time, the company's spending to develop new drugs rose 52 percent, to $36.4 million from $23.8 million.
The company is moving forward with its Pafase drug for severe sepsis, a potentially deadly blood-clotting syndrome, and its sitaxsentan drug for pulmonary arterial hypertension, a condition that can lead to heart failure.
The company's net loss in the quarter widened to $35.4 million, or 62 cents a share, from $10.6 million, or 22 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts had expected the company to post a loss of between 49 cents and 66 cents a share, with an average estimate of 56 cents, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. |
