CONCORD, Calif. -- Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS) today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2007.
Product revenue for the INTERCEPT Blood System increased to $2.8 million during the third quarter of 2007, up from $0.8 million during the third quarter of 2006. Total revenues for the third quarter of 2007 were $3.7 million, down from $8.0 million for the third quarter of 2006, when $2.6 million of milestone payments from BioOne and development funding under agreements with Baxter and MedImmune were recognized. No such revenue was recognized in the third quarter of 2007. In addition, $3.6 million less in government grant funding was recognized in the third quarter of 2007 as compared to the prior year period. Total operating expenses for the third quarter of 2007 were $14.2 million, up from $10.7 million for the same period in 2006. The higher operating expenses in the third quarter of 2007 are primarily due to an increase of $1.3 million in cost of products sold and $2.0 million in higher selling, general and administrative expenses associated with our commercialization efforts of the INTERCEPT Blood System.
Net loss for the third quarter of 2007 was $9.2 million, or $0.29 per share, compared to net loss of $1.8 million, or $0.06 per share, for the third quarter of 2006.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2007, product revenue rose 174% to $5.6 million from $2.0 million during the prior year period. Total revenues declined to $12.9 million in the first nine months of 2007 from $21.4 million during the same period in 2006, when milestone and development revenue from BioOne was recognized. Operating expenses rose to $50.2 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2007, from $33.1 million in the same period in 2006. The increase was primarily due to recognition of a $9.45 million non-cash impairment in the value of the Company's equity investment in BioOne as well as increases of $2.7 million in cost of product revenue and $6.2 million in selling, general and administrative expense, largely arising from increased commercialization activities in Europe.
Net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2007, was $33.9 million, or $1.06 per share, compared to $7.8 million, or $0.30 per share, in the same period in 2006.
At September 30, 2007, the Company had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $69.0 million, down from $93.4 million at December 31, 2006.
"We are pleased to see good commercial progress in Europe," said Claes Glassell, president and CEO of Cerus Corporation. "Our team continues to lay the foundation for future growth."
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
* Product sales in the third quarter of 2007 increased by 65% from the second quarter of 2007, up from the 40% growth rate from the first to second quarter of 2007. Year-to-date product sales were $5.6 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2007, up significantly from $2.0 million in the same period in 2006;
* We recently signed a distribution agreement to supply blood centers in Russia and other CIS countries, and began coordinating commercial efforts with Grifols, our distributor in Spain and Portugal, and with our distributors in Greece, Turkey and Kuwait;
* We presented scientific and commercial use data at four medical conferences, including at last week's American Association of Blood Banks conference in Southern California.
QUARTERLY CONFERENCE CALL
The company has scheduled its quarterly conference call for 4:30 p.m. Eastern time today. Interested parties can access a live Internet broadcast at www.cerus.com. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, the call will be temporarily archived.
ABOUT CERUS
Cerus Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes novel, proprietary products in the fields of blood safety and immunotherapy designed to provide safer, more effective medical options to patients in areas of substantial unmet medical needs. In the field of blood safety, the company is developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System, which is based on the company's proprietary Helinx technology. The system is designed to enhance the safety of donated blood components by inactivating viruses, bacteria, parasites and other pathogens, as well as potentially harmful white blood cells. In the field of immunotherapy, the company is employing its proprietary attenuated Listeria vaccine platform to develop a series of novel therapies to treat cancer, and it is applying its proprietary Killed But Metabolically Active technology platform in the research and development of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines for infectious diseases.
INTERCEPT, INTERCEPT Blood System and Helinx are trademarks of Cerus Corporation.
Forward Looking Statements
Except for the historical statements contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the Company's prospects and results, including the Company's expectations regarding the adequacy of its cash balance to fund future operations and ability to obtain additional capital, efforts to contain costs and grow revenue and its plans to pursue further clinical development of the INTERCEPT red blood cell system. Because the Company's forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with Cerus' need for additional capital, the sufficiency of existing cash resources, the timing and success of clinical trials, the timing and success of commercialization efforts, our research, development and commercialization expenses, market acceptance of its products and the other risks and uncertainties disclosed from time to time in reports filed by the Company with the SEC, including most recently the Company's Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2008 filed with the SEC on July 31, 2008 and the Company's Form 10-Q for the
fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2008 to be filed with the SEC on or about October 30, 2008. The Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
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CERUS CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED UNAUDITED
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands except per share information)
Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
September 30, September 30,
------------------- -------------------
2008 2007 2008 2007
---------- -------- --------- ---------
Revenue
Product revenue $ 3,095 $ 2,762 $ 11,977 $ 5,620
Government grant and
cooperative agreements 787 414 904 3,029
---------- -------- --------- ---------
Total Revenue 3,882 3,176 12,881 8,649
---------- -------- --------- ---------
Cost of product revenue 1,913 1,673 6,704 3,564
---------- -------- --------- ---------
Gross profit 1,969 1,503 6,177 5,085
Operating expenses
Research and development 2,483 4,006 7,937 10,831
Selling, general and
administrative 7,067 5,631 21,607 17,104
Impairment of long-term
investment in related party -- -- -- 9,450
---------- -------- --------- ---------
Total operating expenses 9,550 9,637 29,544 37,385
---------- -------- --------- ---------
Loss from operations (7,581) (8,134) (23,367) (32,300)
Interest and other income
(expense), net (1,237) 1,334 164 3,418
---------- -------- --------- ---------
Loss from continuing
operations $(8,818) $(6,800) $(23,203) $(28,882)
---------- -------- --------- ---------
Discontinued operations:
Loss from discontinued
operations -- (2,351) -- (4,992)
---------- -------- --------- ---------
Net loss $(8,818) $(9,151) $(23,203) $(33,874)
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Net loss per share:
Loss from continuing
operations per common share
- basic and diluted $ (0.27) $ (0.21) $ (0.72) $ (0.91)
Loss from discontinued
operations per common
share - basic and diluted $ -- $ (0.08) $ -- $ (0.15)
Net loss per share - basic
and diluted $ (0.27) $ (0.29) $ (0.72) $ (1.06)
Weighted average common shares
outstanding used for basic
and diluted loss per share
Basic 32,530 31,850 32,400 31,810
Diluted 32,530 31,850 32,400 31,810
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CERUS CORPORATION
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED UNAUDITED
BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands)
September December
30, 31,
2008 2007
--------- --------
Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments $29,491 $56,850
Accounts receivable and other current assets 8,202 9,990
Inventories 10,308 7,062
Property and equipment, net 1,561 1,322
Other assets 2,836 2,985
--------- --------
Total Assets $52,398 $78,209
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Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $12,476 $16,786
Deferred revenue 85 1,504
Other current liabilities 9 30
Other long-term liabilities 224 2
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Total liabilities 12,794 18,322
--------- --------
Stockholders' equity 39,604 59,887
--------- --------
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $52,398 $78,209
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Cerus Corporation
William J. Dawson
Vice President, Finance & CFO
925-288-6053
or
Porter Novelli Life Sciences
Jason I. Spark
619-849-6005
Copyright Business Wire 2008
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