>>Panacos Reports Second Quarter 2007 Financial Results
Tuesday July 31, 4:02 pm ET
WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Panacos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANC - News), a biotechnology company dedicated to developing the next generation of antiviral therapeutic products, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 and reviewed progress in its development programs.
Recent Business Highlights:
The Company announced preliminary results from the 250 mg cohort of a Phase 2b dose escalation study of bevirimat (PA-457) in patients failing HIV therapy due to drug resistance. The results of this cohort were in line with expectations and support further dose escalation as planned in order to fully explore the dose-response relationship of bevirimat.
Panacos began Phase 1 clinical testing of bevirimat in healthy volunteers to evaluate two novel liquid formulations of bevirimat suitable for long-term dosing.
The Company completed a bevirimat "site of absorption" study in humans. The results showed that bevirimat has a relatively long absorption window, with absorption occurring along the entire small bowel and to a lesser degree in the colon. The Company expects that these results will help in the selection of solid dosage formulations of bevirimat for human testing.
Panacos completed its Phase 1 clinical study of PA-040, the first of its second generation maturation inhibitors designed to target bevirimat-resistant strains of HIV observed from in vitro studies. The study showed that the molecule has a half life in humans of approximately 20 hours, suitable for once daily dosing but with relatively low bioavailability. The Company has discovered several newer second-generation compounds that have shown substantially greater bioavailability than PA-040 in animal studies. The Company plans to advance the second-generation program with one or more of these newer compounds.
Panacos' clinical and pre-clinical programs were the subject of five presentations at the fourth International AIDS Society Conference on Pathogenesis, Treatment, and Prevention (IAS).
The Company closed a $20 million term loan agreement with Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. and drew down $10 million pursuant to that agreement.
Second Quarter Financial Highlights:
For the second quarter of 2007, Panacos reported a net loss of $10.1 million, or $0.19 per share, versus a net loss of $15.0 million, or $0.30 per share, for the second quarter of 2006. Revenue in the second quarter of 2007 increased to $106,000 from $35,000 for the second quarter of 2006, primarily as a result of Panacos' recognition of a license fee received from a third party related to an option and license agreement completed during the quarter for the INACTINE development program, terminated by the Company in 2005.
Research and development expenses in the second quarter of 2007 decreased to $6.2 million from $7.3 million in the second quarter of 2006, primarily as a result of timing-related decreased expenses in the Company's pipeline research and development programs. General and administrative expenses in the second quarter of 2007 decreased to $3.5 million from $8.7 million in the second quarter of 2006, primarily due to the decrease in stock compensation expense relative to second quarter 2006 expenses related to the death of the Company's former CEO, Dr. Samuel Ackerman.
During the second quarter of 2007 the Company incurred asset impairment and contract-related charges of $1.2 million as a result of the sublease of a portion of its Watertown facility that had previously been used for the discontinued INACTINE development program. The sublease, which was agreed to during the second quarter of 2007, is expected to generate additional cash over its life of approximately $1.9 million.
Unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $54.8 million at June 30, 2007. As of June 30, 2007 the Company had approximately 53.5 million common shares outstanding.
"We continue to make progress in our research and development programs," commented Alan W. Dunton, M.D., Panacos' Chief Executive Officer. "We are moving forward with the dose escalation portion of the Phase 2b study and have made good progress in developing liquid and solid formulations for long-term dosing. In our second-generation maturation inhibitor program, PA-040's relatively long half life was encouraging, given its substantially reduced protein binding compared to bevirimat, and we are advancing several other compounds with more promising characteristics."
Panacos will hold a conference call today to discuss the second quarter results and the Company's development programs at 4:30 p.m. (EDT). The conference call can be accessed via the web at www.panacos.com or by dialing 800.561.2601 (domestic) or 617.614.3518 (international), between 4:15 and 4:25 p.m. and entering the passcode 13236911. A replay of the conference call will be available from 6:30 p.m. on July 31, 2007 through August 31, 2007, and can be accessed via the web at www.panacos.com or by dialing toll-free 888.286.8010, and outside the U.S. 617.801.6888 with passcode 14818744.<<
A little color on preclinical stuff, otherwise vague and old. Stock flat after hours.
Cheers, Tuck |
