SAN DIEGO, Nov. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2011.
"We are focused on submitting our response to the FDA for the lorcaserin complete response letter around year-end and filing the lorcaserin marketing authorization application with the European Medicines Agency in the first half of next year," stated Jack Lief, Arena's President and Chief Executive Officer. "With our lorcaserin program, we have the potential to provide a completely new treatment option to help patients reduce their weight and improve co-morbid conditions associated with obesity."
Research and development expenses continued to decline in the third quarter of 2011 to $15.0 million, compared to $20.2 million in the third quarter of 2010. Research and development expenses in the first nine months of 2011 declined to $45.6 million from $59.0 million in the first nine months of 2010. These decreases are primarily attributable to Arena's first quarter 2011 workforce reduction and ongoing cost-containment efforts, as well as completion of the Phase 3 lorcaserin clinical trials. General and administrative expenses decreased to $6.0 million in the third quarter of 2011, compared to $6.9 million in the third quarter of 2010, and $19.0 million in the first nine months of 2011, compared to $20.6 million in the first nine months of 2010.
Total interest and other expense in the third quarter of 2011 decreased to $3.4 million, compared to $14.5 million in the third quarter of 2010. Total interest and other expense in the first nine months of 2011 decreased to $21.1 million, compared to $22.4 million in the first nine months of 2010. These decreases are primarily attributable to a reduction in interest expense resulting from Arena's principal prepayments on its Deerfield loan of $20.0 million in January 2011 and $17.7 million in March 2011. Arena's net loss allocable to common stockholders in the third quarter of 2011 was $22.7 million, or $0.16 per share, compared to $36.3 million, or $0.31 per share, in the third quarter of 2010. Including $10.5 million of non-cash debt extinguishment charges and $3.5 million of restructuring charges, Arena's net loss allocable to common stockholders in the first nine months of 2011 was $87.8 million, or $0.64 per share, compared to $96.3 million, or $0.91 per share, in the first nine months of 2010.
At September 30, 2011, cash and cash equivalents totaled $77.9 million and approximately 146.0 million shares of common stock were outstanding.
Lorcaserin Regulatory Update
- Modified and repeated two preclinical studies to further assess lorcaserin's abuse potential: A study of serotonin 2A and 2C receptor-associated behaviors and a drug discrimination study. Arena believes the results of these studies are consistent with the results of the similar studies previously conducted and that were included in the original lorcaserin New Drug Application (NDA).
- Investigated the potency of lorcaserin relative to a spectrum of 33 reference compounds, including compounds known to cause valvulopathy and those not known to cause valvulopathy, as part of the serotonin 2B receptor analyses to further refine lorcaserin's receptor activity. Arena believes the results demonstrate that lorcaserin's potency is closer to the reference compounds not known to cause valvulopathy than the reference compounds known to cause valvulopathy. Arena expects to complete the remainder of the receptor work, including analyses to relate receptor potency to human exposure, in time to submit the complete response to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) around the end of the year.
- Analyzed time to death due to mammary adenocarcinoma as an additional indicator of rat mammary tumor aggressiveness using the Pathology Working Groups updated data set. Time to death specifically attributed to mammary adenocarcinoma was significantly decreased only in the lorcaserin high-dose group. In a second analysis which assumed deaths due to unspecified mammary tumor in rats with both fibroadenoma and adenocarcinoma were caused by adenocarcinoma, time to death was accelerated in the lorcaserin mid-dose group as well, although the incidence of mammary adenocarcinoma was not increased over controls in the mid-dose group.
- A series of mechanistic studies that are intended to test whether there is a causal relationship between lorcaserin, prolactin and mammary tumor development in rats is ongoing. Arena expects to complete these studies in time to submit the complete response to the FDA around the end of the year.
- Assigned the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency as marketing authorization application Rapporteur and Sweden's Medical Products Agency as Co-rapporteur. Arena also received approval from the Pediatric Development Committee for its pediatric investigation plan application, which defers all pediatric studies until after European Medicines Agency approval.
Other recent developments include:
- Entered into an equity line of credit agreement with Azimuth Opportunity, L.P., or Azimuth, that provides that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions and limitations set forth in the agreement, Azimuth is committed to purchase up to $50 million worth of shares of Arena common stock over a 24-month term. Arena will determine, at its sole discretion, the timing and amount of any sales of its stock, subject to certain conditions.
- Presented three posters of new data analyses from the lorcaserin Phase 3 clinical trial program at Obesity 2011, the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of The Obesity Society.
- Announced that Robert E. Hoffman rejoined Arena as Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer.
Scheduled Financial Results Call
Arena will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the third quarter 2011 financial results and to provide a business and financial update tomorrow, November 10, 2011, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (5:30 a.m. Pacific Time).
The conference call may be accessed by dialing 877.643.7155 for domestic callers and 914.495.8552 for international callers. Please specify to the operator that you would like to join the "Arena Pharmaceuticals' Third Quarter 2011 Financial Results Call." The conference call will be webcast live under the investor relations section of Arena's website at www.arenapharm.com and will be archived there for 30 days following the call. Please connect to Arena's website several minutes prior to the start of the broadcast to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be necessary.
Upcoming Corporate Presentations
Arena is planning to present at upcoming investment and industry conferences, including:
- Piper Jaffray 23rd Annual Health Care Conference, November 29-30, 2011, New York, New York
- 30th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, January 9-12, 2012, San Francisco, California
About Lorcaserin
Lorcaserin is an investigational drug candidate intended for weight management, including weight loss and maintenance of weight loss, in patients who are obese (BMI greater than or equal to 30) or patients who are overweight (BMI greater than or equal to 27) and have at least one weight-related co-morbid condition. Lorcaserin is a new chemical entity that is believed to act as a selective serotonin 2C receptor agonist. The serotonin 2C receptor is expressed in the brain, including the hypothalamus, an area believed to be involved in the control of appetite and metabolism. Arena has patents that cover lorcaserin in the United States and other jurisdictions that in most cases are capable of continuing into 2023 without taking into account any patent term extensions or other exclusivity Arena might obtain.
Arena submitted a NDA for lorcaserin to the FDA in December 2009, and the FDA issued a Complete Response Letter (CRL) in October 2010. Arena's wholly owned subsidiary, Arena Pharmaceuticals GmbH, has granted Eisai Inc. exclusive rights to market and distribute lorcaserin in the United States subject to FDA approval of the lorcaserin NDA.
About Arena Pharmaceuticals
Arena is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing oral drugs that target G protein-coupled receptors, an important class of validated drug targets, in four major therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, central nervous system, inflammatory and metabolic diseases. Arena's most advanced drug candidate is intended for weight management.
Arena Pharmaceuticals® and Arena® are registered service marks of the company.
