AcuTect(TM) sales increase 36 percent over prior quarter
Diatide Reports Second Quarter 1999 Financial Results
AcuTect(TM) sales increase 36 percent over prior quarter
LONDONDERRY, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 16, 1999-- Diatide, Inc. (Nasdaq:DITI - news), today reported that AcuTect(TM) product sales in the second quarter of 1999 were $400,000, a 36 percent increase over product sales in the first quarter of 1999.
''We believe that AcuTect(TM), which detects acute blood clots in the legs, is gaining acceptance among physicians,'' said Richard T. Dean, Ph.D., Diatide's President and CEO. ''It now appears that Diatide's marketing efforts to build awareness among the specialists who will benefit most from this novel, cost-effective approach are beginning to pay off. In particular, we noted significant interest in AcuTect at the Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting in June.''
Diatide's revenue for the second quarter ended June 30, 1999 was $446,000, compared with $2,596,000 for the second quarter ended June 30, 1998. The Company's second quarter 1998 revenue figures included two payments from Nycomed Amersham: a one-time $2.0 million milestone payment for Diatide's submission to the FDA of a New Drug Application (NDA) for NeoTect(TM); and $500,000 in sponsored research under a program that supported AcuTect(TM) and NeoTect(TM) research and development and ended in January 1999.
The net loss for the second quarter of 1999 was $4.9 million, or $0.46 per share, compared with a net loss of $2.0 million, or $0.19 per share, for the second quarter of 1998.
For the six months ended June 30, 1999 Diatide's revenue was $757,000, compared with revenue of $3.1 million for the first half of 1998. The Company's net loss for the first six months of 1999 was $8.9 million, or $0.84 per share, compared with a net loss of $5.0 million, or $0.48 per share, in the first half of 1998.
Other Second Quarter 1999 Highlights include:
At the Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting in June, Diatide presented 12 peer-reviewed medical studies on its Techtide® platform, including Phase III studies on AcuTect(TM) and NeoTect(TM) as well as a UCLA cost-benefit study involving NeoTect(TM).
On June 10, 1999, Diatide announced that it had won a major patent interference against Palatin when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office declared Diatide the owner of a significant peptide-linking invention. Diatide's proprietary platform includes 45 issued and 50 pending U.S. patents, as well as licenses to seven additional U.S. patents.
At the Westergaard Investor Conference in June, Diatide announced that the Department of Energy had selected Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) as the recipient of a total of $750,000 over three years to develop Stanamet (also known as Tin-117m DTPA) technology for the treatment of bone cancer through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) involving BNL and Diatide. Diatide is already developing this technology as a cancer pain relief therapy.
Diatide continued preclinical studies on its first cancer therapeutic, which consists of a targeting peptide similar to that in NeoTect(TM), labeled with the therapeutic beta-emitting radioisotope, rhenium-188. Diatide expects to start clinical research studies on this product later this year.
Diatide, based in New Hampshire, is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing a novel line of disease-specific imaging and therapeutic agents - Techtides® and Theratides(TM) - as pharmaceuticals with commercial and medical promise. Diatide has applied its patented technologies in the areas of peptide engineering and radiolabeling chemistry to produce a number of small molecules that bind with high affinity and specificity to targets on diseased tissue and to which a radioisotope can be attached for imaging or therapeutic purposes.
Diatide's first product, AcuTect(TM) for the imaging of acute deep vein thrombosis (blood clots) in the legs, received marketing approval in September 1998 and was launched in October 1998. The Company's second product, NeoTect(TM) for the imaging of suspected malignant lung tumors, received FDA approval on August 3, 1999. For NeoTect(TM) and AcuTect(TM), Diatide has a marketing and sales collaboration with Nycomed Amersham. Diatide is actively seeking corporate alliances for its cancer therapy products and other imaging products in its pipeline. Diatide owns 45 issued U.S. patents and 52 granted foreign patents, and has licensed rights to seven additional U.S. patents and their foreign counterparts.
More information on the Company can be obtained from its web site, www.diatide.com
(Selected financial data follows)
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words ''believes,'' ''anticipates,'' ''plans,'' ''expects,'' ''intends,'' and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are set forth under the caption ''Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Risk Factors'' (''Risk Factors'') in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These Certain Factors are incorporated herein by reference. As more fully described in the Certain Factors, the Company's potential products (other than AcuTect(TM) and NeoTect(TM)) are all still in development; there can be no assurance that the Company's potential products will demonstrate the safety, efficacy, and cost attributes currently expected by the Company; there can be no assurance that the Company will receive regulatory approvals to commence or continue clinical trials of product candidates, or to market such products; and, there can be no assurance that AcuTect(TM), NeoTect(TM), or the Company's other potential products will be commercially successful, or accepted by the medical community or third-party payors, or that technologies, patents and proposed products of other companies will not render the Company's products obsolete or noncompetitive.
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DIATIDE, INC.
SUMMARY STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
June 30, June 30,
Statement of Operations
Data: 1999 1998 1999 1998
Product sales, net $400,119 $-- $693,928 $--
Total revenues 445,581 2,595,960 756,890 3,129,801
Total expenses 5,428,651 4,781,379 9,823,098 8,603,511
Loss from
operations (4,983,070) (2,185,419) (9,066,208) (5,473,710)
Net loss $(4,913,991) $(1,964,083) $(8,890,192) $(5,046,622)
Net loss per
Common share $(0.46) $(0.19) $(0.84) $(0.48)
Shares used in
computing net loss
per common share 10,583,843 10,559,946 10,586,153 10,553,315
DIATIDE, INC.
SUMMARY BALANCE SHEET
(Unaudited)
June 30, December 31,
1999 1998
Cash, cash equivalents
and marketable securities $4,232,262 $7,663,654
Working capital $2,417,744 $5,008,466
Total assets $7,342,212 $10,272,743
Long-term debt, less current
portion $185,225 $250,572
Total stockholders' equity $3,377,104 $6,125,977
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Contact:
Richard T. Dean, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer and President
603-437-8970
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