[CYTX] very positive full year and future, looking to gap up
Cytori Reports Year End 2008 Results; Reviews 2008 Progress and 2009 Business Objectives
Friday March 6, 2009, 7:00 am EST
Print SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CYTX - News) reports financial results for the year ended December 31, 2008, provides a review of its progress in 2008 and outlines 2009 business objectives.
Highlights for 2008 include the following:
Launch of the Celution® System into the cosmetic and reconstructive surgery market in Europe and Asia Pacific
Initiation of a 70 patient European post-marketing study with the goal to seek reimbursement for partial mastectomy reconstruction
Realization of increased demand for the Celution® System in Asia Pacific for access to clinical grade cells
Receipt of several important U.S. and International patents and patent allowances in 2008, which extensively cover the Celution® System technology and applications of the Celution® System output
Total revenues in 2008 were $6.9 million. This consisted of $4.5 million in Celution® System and StemSource® product revenues, compared to $792,000 in product revenues in 2007. This significant increase in product revenues was largely due to the first year launch of the Celution® System and the StemSource® Cell Bank. Gross margins on product revenues for 2008 were 59%.
The Company believes that full year sales of the Celution® System and StemSource® Cell Bank will exceed $10 million. Factors contributing to the 2009 sales forecast include Celution® System orders already received this year, the recent installation of a StemSource® Cell Bank in Japan, 2009 sales expectations from Cytori’s marketing and distribution partners and emerging customer consumable reorder trends. Cytori’s marketing and distribution partnership with GE Healthcare is active and contributing to 2009 sales. This quarter, Cytori received its opening order for Celution® System devices and consumables from GE Healthcare, trained their European sales force, and both companies are broadly collaborating to grow 2009 sales in key European markets.
Cytori reduced its operating expenses in the third and fourth quarters of 2008 mostly due to a decrease in general and administrative and research and development expenses, offset in part by a planned increase in sales and marketing expenses. The Company anticipates continued significant reduction in operating expenses in 2009, as Cytori further shifts its resources toward managing sales and marketing activities, assumed mostly by its distribution partners, and away from research and development. The Company expects this will reduce cash operating losses to approximately $1 million per month in the near term.
Net loss for 2008 was $30.0 million, or $1.12 per share on a basic and diluted basis, as compared to $28.7 million, or $1.25 per share on a basic and diluted basis for 2007. The increase in net loss is attributable in part to increased sales and marketing expenses, coinciding with the Celution® System launch, a non cash increase in the fair value of the option liability during 2008, and a gain on sale of assets in 2007, for which there was no comparable gain in 2008. This was offset in part by a reduction in research and development and general and administrative expenses.
Cytori ended the year with $12.6 million in cash and cash equivalents compared to $11.5 million as of December 31, 2007. The Company will require additional capital in the near term for its operations, and is currently in discussions regarding potential options to improve its cash position. Cytori’s business objectives for 2009 and beyond include the following:
Exceed global Celution® System and StemSource® sales target of $10 million in 2009
Expand global distribution network in Europe and Asia-Pacific and related sales impact
Expand Celution® System product claims to include general and plastic surgery procedures
Expand reconstructive surgery reimbursement in Europe
Substantial reduction in total operating expenses
Complete enrollment of RESTORE II in the second quarter of 2009
Report preliminary RESTORE II results as early as the fourth quarter of 2009 on patients who have been followed for six months at the time of analysis
Introduce complementary cosmetic and reconstructive surgery products in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2009
Finalize U.S. regulatory and clinical development and regulatory strategy
Complete enrollment in cardiovascular studies (PRECISE & APOLLO) and report results in 2010
Conference Call
Cytori will host a conference call at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time today to discuss these results. The audio webcast of the conference call may be accessed under "Events & Webcasts" in the Investor Relations section of the Cytori’s website (www.cytoritx.com). The webcast will be available live and by replay two hours after the call and archived for 90 days. A telephone replay will be available for one week, accessible at +1 (303) 590-3000 (PIN: 111268474#). |
