CHICAGO, March 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc. , a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs in the therapeutic areas of infection, oncology and respiratory diseases, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2009.
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The net loss allocable to common shareholders for the three months ended December 31, 2009 was $1.5 million or ($0.02) per share compared to a net loss allocable to common shareholders of $2.8 million or ($0.07) per share for the three months ended December 31, 2008. The net loss allocable to common shareholders for the full year 2009 was $9.3 million or ($0.16) per share compared to a net loss allocable to common shareholders of $23.0 million or ($0.59) per share for 2008. The decrease in the net loss for the full year 2009 is due to decreased costs involved in the clinical activities and regulatory review of the Company’s lead compound Restanza(TM).
The Company used approximately $3.1 million in cash in the fourth quarter of 2009 and ended the year with cash totaling $2.8 million. Cash use for the full year was $12.1 million.
Dr. Michael Flavin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Life Sciences, commented: “We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead in 2010 as we pursue a focused strategy to position Restanza, our once-daily, oral antibiotic, for success on two major fronts: community acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) and biodefense. We plan to continue to work with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to complete a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) that will lay the groundwork for initiating registration studies for development of Restanza in CABP. We are also continuing to work with Pfizer, our Asia-Pacific regional partner, on development and commercialization plans. In the area of biodefense, we plan to capitalize on our 2009 achievements, which included generating strong, positive data in four pivotal animal trials and receiving $3.8 million from the Department of Defense to study Restanza further as a potential broad-spectrum medical countermeasure. In 2010, we have an opportunity to secure additional non-dilutive capital through government development contracts which may also position us advantageously for procurement discussions with Department of Defense and Health and Human Services. We are also pursuing additional corporate partnerships as well as advancing additional formulations for hospital and pediatric indications with the goal of capturing the full value of the Restanza franchise.”
Full Year Expense Analysis, 2009 versus 2008:
Fourth Quarter Expense Analysis, 2009 versus 2008:
Financial Guidance for 2010
On March 10, 2010, the Company filed a Form S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide the Company with the flexibility to meet its financing needs for 2010 initiatives. The Company also terminated its Standby Equity Distribution Agreement (SEDA) with YA Global Investments and has withdrawn the Form S-3 with the SEC that allowed for sales of its common stock through the SEDA.
Conference Call Details
Advanced Life Sciences will host a conference call and live webcast at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, March 11, 2010 to discuss the Company’s fourth quarter and full year financial results. The conference call will be webcast simultaneously over the Internet. Please visit the Investor Relations section of the Advanced Life Sciences corporate website www.advancedlifesciences.com. Alternatively, callers may participate in the conference call by dialing 888.713.4217 (domestic) or 617.213.4869 (international). The passcode for the conference call is 69970533. A replay of the conference call will be available until May 11, 2010. Callers may access the telephone replay by dialing 888-286-8010 (domestic) or 617-801-6888 (international), passcode 82887406. Investors are advised to dial into the call at least ten minutes prior to the call to register. Participants may pre-register for the call at https://www.theconferencingservice.com/prereg/key.process?key=PKX3JLJW4. Pre-registrants will be issued a pin number to use when dialing into the live call which will provide quick access to the conference by bypassing the operator upon connection.
About Community Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia (CABP)
CABP is the sixth most common cause of death in the United States. CABP and other respiratory tract infections are caused by pathogens such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae. Approximately 5.6 million cases of CABP are diagnosed each year in the United States with 10 million physician visits, resulting in an estimated total annual expenditure of $2.0 billion for prescribed antibiotics to treat CABP. CABP is potentially fatal if not treated properly, and the bacteria that cause CABP are developing resistance to current standard of care treatments.
Macrolides and penicillins are currently the front-line treatments for respiratory tract infections such as CABP. As macrolide and penicillin resistance grows and has the potential to cause more clinical failures, there is a need for new antibiotics with unique mechanisms of action that can overcome this emerging resistance.
About Restanza
Restanza is a novel, once-a-day, oral antibiotic that is in late stage development for the treatment of CABP and biodefense pathogens. It has shown higher in vitro potency and a broader range of activity than macrolides against Gram-positive bacteria associated with respiratory tract infections and appears to be effective against penicillin-, macrolide- and fluoroquinolone-resistant bacteria. Restanza’s demonstrated potency and ability to overcome bacterial resistance may be due to its mechanism of action resulting in specificity for its bacterial target. In addition to its utility in CABP, Restanza is also being investigated for the prophylactic treatment of inhalation anthrax post-exposure and other high priority biodefense pathogens, including plague and tularemia. The FDA has designated Restanza as an orphan drug for the prophylactic treatment of inhalation anthrax post exposure, as well as for use in treating plague and tularemia, but the drug is not yet approved for these or any other indications.
About Advanced Life Sciences
Advanced Life Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs in the therapeutic areas of infection, cancer and respiratory diseases. The Company’s lead candidate, Restanza, is a novel once-a-day oral antibiotic in late-stage development for the treatment of respiratory tract infections including CABP and biodefense pathogens including anthrax, plague and tularemia. For more information, please visit us on the web at www.advancedlifesciences.com or follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/advancedlifesci.
Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements contained in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements represent our management’s judgment regarding future events. The Company does not undertake any obligations to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed herein due to several factors including the success and timing of our clinical trials and our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval and labeling of our product candidates; our plans to develop and commercialize our product candidates; the loss of key scientific or management personnel; the size and growth of potential markets for our product candidates and our ability to serve those markets; regulatory developments in the U.S. and foreign countries; the rate and degree of market acceptance of any future products; the accuracy of our estimates regarding expenses, future revenues and capital requirements; our ability to obtain financing on terms acceptable to us; our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our product candidates; the successful development of our sales and marketing capabilities; the success of competing drugs that become available; and the performance of third party collaborators and manufacturers. These and additional risks and uncertainties are detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: Joe Camp of Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc.,
+1-630-754-4352, jcamp@advancedlifesciences.com
Web site: http://www.advancedlifesciences.com/
