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MOUNTAIN
VIEW, Calif., Aug 4, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall
via COMTEX/ -- ACLARA BioSciences (Nasdaq: ACLA),
today reported financial results for the three
and six months ended June 30, 2004.
Second Quarter 2004 Financial Results
Revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2004 was $515,000, compared
to revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2003 of $405,000. For the
first half of 2004, revenue was $1.1 million compared to $584,000 in the
comparable prior year period.
Total operating expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2004 were
$5.7 million, compared to $6.0 million in the comparable quarter of 2003.
Included in expenses in the second quarter was $1.5 million in legal, financial
advisory and accounting expenses related to the proposed merger with ViroLogic,
Inc. Excluding these merger-related costs, our expenses in the second quarter
were $4.2 million, a decrease of 29% from the second quarter of 2003 and
a decrease of approximately $0.3 million, or 9%, from the first quarter
of 2004.
Net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2004 was $4.9 million, or
a loss of $0.13 per share, compared to a net loss of $5.1 million, or $0.14
per share in the second quarter of 2003. For the first six months of 2004,
the net loss was $8.6 million, or a loss of $0.24 per share, compared to
a net loss of $11.4 million, or a loss of $0.32 per share, for the first
six months of 2003.
Excluding merger-related expenses and reflecting the Company's improved
revenue and continued expense control efforts, net loss for the three months
ended June 30, 2004 was $3.4 million, or a loss of $0.09 per share, a decrease
of 34% from the second quarter of 2003 and a decrease of approximately
$0.3 million, or 9%, from the first quarter of 2004.
Total cash resources, comprising cash, cash equivalents and marketable
investments, were $81.9 million at June 30, 2004. The reduction in these
balances during the second quarter was $3.4 million. Essentially none of
the merger-related expenses were paid in the quarter.
Business Progress
Recent progress in ACLARA's business includes:
-- Proposed Merger with ViroLogic, Inc.: On June 1, we announced that we
had signed a definitive merger agreement with ViroLogic. This
proposed merger will combine ViroLogic's established infrastructure
and experience in commercializing technologies for personalized
medicine in the HIV market with ACLARA's technology applicable to the
substantially larger cancer market. The merger is expected to be
completed by the fourth quarter of 2004.
-- Clinical studies: We completed an agreement with the Tokyo
Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science (TMIMS) to collaborate on a
study to evaluate breast cancer patient samples to validate a
previously completed feasibility experiment in which candidate
biomarkers were detected with ACLARA's proprietary eTag(TM) technology
in a small set of tissue samples from patients treated with
Genentech's drug Herceptin(R) and chemotherapy.
-- ASCO: At the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical
Oncology, we introduced the potential for a personalized medicine
approach in cancer based on our eTag technology to leading oncologists
and cancer researchers. The enthusiasm generated there has aided in
the recruitment of additional scientific advisors and clinical
collaborators and we plan to leverage this increased visibility
through participation in clinical studies related to targeted cancer
therapies.
-- Scientific Advisory Board: Two internationally-renowned oncologists
specialized in targeted cancer therapies, particularly those targeting
the EGF receptor and HER-2 pathway, have recently joined our
Scientific Advisory Board - Dr. Jose Baselga, and Dr. Roy Herbst.
"We are enthusiastic about our proposed merger with ViroLogic. We believe
the merged company will have the infrastructure and experience to develop, launch
and commercialize eTag assays for cancer diagnostics," said Thomas G. Klopack,
ACLARA Chief Executive Officer. "We are actively engaged with ViroLogic
in developing plans for the integration of our companies and for introduction
of products. As part of this product planning, we have continued to broaden the
visibility of our eTag technology in the oncology community. In June at ASCO,
we received an excellent reception from the leading physicians and scientists
to whom we introduced the potential of the eTag System to directly measure the
protein complexes and pathway activation status in patient samples that are targeted
by cancer therapies. We are now working with many of these key opinion leaders
and with our current collaborators to access existing sources of tissue samples
on which clinical studies can be conducted."
About ACLARA
ACLARA BioSciences, Inc. is commercializing its proprietary eTag Assay
System for drug discovery research and to support preclinical and clinical
development of specific targeted therapies. The eTag Assay System is a
high performance, high throughput system for the simultaneous measurement
of 10's to 100's of genes, proteins, and cell-based antigens across thousands
of samples. The eTag platform makes it possible for researchers to measure
multiple aspects of a complex biological system, enabling the study of
gene expression, protein expression, cell signaling and pathway activation,
protein-protein interaction, post-translational modifications and cell
receptor binding -- all in the same sample and with the same platform.
The system uses ACLARA's proprietary eTag reporters to multiplex the analysis
of genes and/or proteins. Specific molecular binding events result in the
release of electrophoretically distinct eTag reporters, which are then
resolved by standard capillary electrophoresis to provide precise, sensitive
quantitation of multiple analytes -- directly from cell lysates of cultured
or primary cells, as well as fresh and fixed tissue samples.
More
information on ACLARA can be obtained on the Company's
web site at www.aclara.com.
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