Earnings announced tomorrow. In the meantime, Wall Street Journal seemed pretty upbeat today (Wednesday):
Chiroscience Group Expected To Post GBP13.5M Loss In 1999
Dow Jones Newswires
LONDON -- Chiroscience Group PLC (U.CCC), the most recent addition to Britain's pharmaceutical companies, is expected to post a narrowed full year loss of about GBP13.5 million when it reports earnings Thursday, according to analysts.
That compares with last year's loss of GBP23.3 million.
But the figures will likely take a back seat to news of progress on finding a marketing partner for the company's recently approved long-acting local anesthetic Chirocaine.
In 1998, Chiroscience was granted a European license to market Chirocaine, thereby earning the right to call itself a pharmaceutical company, something which continues to elude many of its British biotech peers. A biotechnology firm can't claim to be a pharmaceutical company until it has a drug on the market.
But Astra's merger with Zeneca to create AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) threatened to undo all the good work, spoiling Zeneca's role as marketing partner for the drug.
Through the guidance of regulators, however, Chiroscience emerged from that situation relatively unscathed, getting back its marketing rights for Chirocaine, with trimmings - a GBP10 million compensation payment and an obligation imposed on Zeneca by regulators to fund ongoing commercialization work.
Chiroscience said recently it has been talking with about 10 possible marketing partners for Chirocaine. Interest in the drug was almost immediate from the day AstraZeneca first announced their plans, said Chief Executive John Padfield.
Most analysts expect the partner to be unveiled in the coming months, with rollout slated for the second half of the year.
As long as those talks remain on track, cashflow is sound and the company's other projects - ChiroTech and big pharmaceutical collaborations on other key studies - remain focused, analysts will likely retain a positive outlook for the company.
-By Michael Reid; 44-171-842-9292; Michael.Reid@dowjones.com |
