ROYSTON, England, March 13, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Pharmagene plc (LSE:PGN) announces its preliminary results for the year ended December 31, 2000.
Year 2000 Highlights
Business Development
-- Market penetration ahead of expectations: deals signed with 18
companies, including 10 repeat customers (1999: 11 with 4 repeat
customers)
-- Expanded relationship with Bayer in target validation area
-- Renewed Phase ZEROTM relationship with Kyowa Hakko Kogyo for
fourth year
-- Internal therapeutic programs progressed: - Indication Switch
programs in cystic fibrosis, irritable bowel syndrome,
dysmenorrhoea, pre-term labor, pulmonary fibrosis and renal
colic; and - two new lead discovery programs in migraine and
irritable bowel syndrome
-- Intellectual property position expanded with 1 patent granted and
7 new patents filed
-- First phase of expansion of laboratory facilities in Royston and
Peterborough completed
Financial
-- Listed on London Stock Exchange and raised net proceeds of Euro 37
million from Global Offer
-- Revenue of Euro 1.03 million (1999: Euro 1.26 million). Year ended
with signed order book of Euro 1.25 million
-- Loss on ordinary activities before tax of Euro 6.5 million (1999:
Euro 4.2 million) after charging exceptional expenses of Euro 2.5
million (1999: Euro 151,000)
-- Closing cash and short term investments of Euro 38.3 million
(1999: Euro 4.6 million) with annual cash outflow before financing
and management of liquid resources of £4.1 million (1999: Euro 3.7
million)
Board Structure
-- Board strengthened through appointment of Neil Johnston as Chief
Financial Officer and David Lee as non-executive director
Early 2001 Highlights
-- International customer base expanded to 20; new deal signed with
Taisho continues to illustrate significant penetration of Japanese
Market
-- Proteomics relationship established with WITA Proteomics AG
-- Achieved key step in exemplification of Indication Switch approach
with patent publication
-- Board further strengthened through appointment of David Briscoe
(formerly President of Incyte Genomics, Europe) as Commercial
Director and Ron Long (Vice Chairman of Nycomed Amersham and
previously Chief Executive of Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) as non-
executive director
-- Sales and marketing team expanded and strengthened
Commenting on the results, Alastair Riddell, Chief Executive Officer of Pharmagene said, "We have made significant progress in the past 12 months. We continue to believe strongly in our balanced risk business model and will continue to focus on both revenue generating activities and building our therapeutic portfolio through our unique human tissue focus. We are investing resources in our technologies and business development activities to generate value for our shareholders over the short and longer term. We have strengthened the board considerably since the beginning of 2000 and together, we look forward to building on the momentum generated in 2000 during 2001."
Chief Financial Officer, Neil Johnston, added, "Our strong cash position gives us a platform from which we will continue to build our business. We began 2001 with a strong order book and we expect to see good revenue growth for the rest of the year. This will offset, to some extent, a planned increase in expenditure as we continue to invest in our business."
Attachments: http://reports.huginonline.com/812102/87684.pdf