Rigel Announces Second Quarter 2002 Financial Results
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -
- Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIGL - News) today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2002.
The company reported revenues of $4.3 million for the quarter, compared to $3.1 million in the second quarter of 2001. Revenues for the first six months of 2002 were $8.4 million, compared to $6.3 million for the first six months of 2001. These revenues were derived from research collaborations with pharmaceutical partners. The increase reflects milestone payments to Rigel for delivery of drug targets to these partners and the addition in mid-2001 of an oncology program with Novartis focused on angiogenesis.
Total operating expenses for the second quarter were $14.8 million, compared to $10.7 million in the same period of 2001. For the first two quarters of the year, total operating expenses were $27.4 million, compared to $18.7 million for this period last year. The increase in expenses reflects ongoing investment in drug development infrastructure and accelerating efforts to move the company's first product into clinical trials.
Rigel reported a net loss of $10.4 million, or $0.23 per share, for the quarter, compared to a net loss of $7.3 million, or $0.20 per share, in the same period last year. Net loss for the first six months of the year was $18.8 million, or $0.42 per share, compared with $11.5 million, or $0.31 per share, for the first half of 2001.
At the end of the second quarter, Rigel reported cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $45.7 million, compared to $57.5 million at the end of the first quarter.
"We achieved important goals this quarter, delivering additional targets to our partners Pfizer and Novartis, and hiring Dr. Elliott Grossbard to lead our preclinical and clinical development efforts," said James M. Gower, Rigel's chairman and chief executive officer. "We believe that our financial resources are enough to enable us to move our first products into the clinic. We expect to reach the first of these milestones by the end of the summer with the initiation of clinical testing of our drug for allergic rhinitis."
About Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.rigel.com) is a drug discovery and development company that uses advanced functional genomics tools to discover novel drug targets that can be used to develop a portfolio of orally administered small molecule drugs. Rigel currently has ten product development programs underway, with five programs being proprietary programs in the areas of asthma/allergy, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, cancerous tumor growth and hepatitis C. Rigel expects to begin clinical trials during 2002 with a drug candidate from the asthma/allergy program. In addition to the Rigel-owned programs, the company has five joint programs with its corporate partners in the product development areas of asthma/allergy, autoimmunity, transplant rejection and two programs in cancerous tumor growth. With Rigel's support, one of the company's partners is conducting an additional program in chronic bronchitis at its premises. Rigel has multi-year collaborations with Pfizer Inc., Cell Genesys, Inc., Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, L.L.C. and Novartis Pharma A.G. Rigel is based in South San Francisco, California |
