PASADENA, Calif., May 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AutoImmune Inc. today reported a net loss of $0.30 million, or $0.02 per share basic and diluted, for the three months ended March 31, 2006, compared with a net loss of $0.17 million, or $0.01 per share basic and diluted, for the three months ended March 31, 2005. As of March 31, 2006, the Company reported $9.1 million in cash and marketable securities as compared to $9.3 million in cash and marketable securities as of December 31, 2005.
Robert C. Bishop, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer stated, “During the first quarter of this year, Colloral LLC, our joint venture with Deseret Laboratories Inc. for dietary supplements, expanded direct mail efforts to reach new customers. Initial response rates are encouraging, but the ultimate success of this initiative will be determined by future product re-orders which translate into ongoing revenue for the venture.” For the past three quarters, AutoImmune has consolidated Colloral LLC for financial reporting purposes in accordance with FIN 46 “Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities.”
AutoImmune has exclusively licensed certain of its intellectual property rights to BioMS Medical Corp., a Canadian company. Under the license agreement, BioMS makes monthly diligence payments to AutoImmune and has a royalty obligation on sales of its lead drug MBP8298, a treatment for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, should it reach the market. On May 3, 2006, BioMS announced that it had received a fourth positive review by the Data Safety Monitoring Board on its Phase II/III human clinical trial of MBP8298.
AutoImmune has also exclusively licensed certain of its intellectual property rights to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. On March 20, 2006, Teva disclosed in a 20-F filing that it has halted development of an enteric coated oral formulation of Copaxone which was covered under the license agreement, but is considering future development of other non-parenteral formulations of the product. It is unclear at this point in time whether any such future development would involve AutoImmune intellectual property. If Teva does develop a product using the Company’s intellectual property and is successful in bringing this product to market, AutoImmune will receive both a milestone payment and a royalty on sales under its license agreement.
AutoImmune is a biopharmaceutical company involved in the development of a new class of mucosally administered therapies for the treatment of autoimmune and cell-mediated inflammatory diseases and conditions.
This release contains forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. The Company’s actual results may differ significantly from results discussed in the forward-looking statements due to a number of important factors, including, but not limited to the uncertainties of clinical trial results, the Company’s dependence on third parties for licensing revenue, and the risks of technological change and competition. These factors are more fully discussed in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the section “Risk Factors” The discussion in the Annual Report on Form 10-K is hereby referenced into this release.
- Financial Chart Follows - AUTOIMMUNE INC. STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) Three months ended March 31, 2005 2006 Revenue $38,000 $97,000 Costs and expenses: Research and development 127,000 130,000 General and administrative 115,000 362,000 Total costs and expenses 242,000 492,000 Interest income 61,000 97,000 Equity in net loss of unconsolidated affiliate (30,000) - 31,000 97,000 Net income (loss) ($173,000) ($298,000) Net income (loss) per share - basic ($0.01) ($0.02) Net income (loss) per share - diluted ($0.01) ($0.02) Weighted average common shares outstanding - basic 16,919,623 16,919,623 Weighted average common shares outstanding - diluted 16,919,623 16,919,623 CONDENSED BALANCE SHEET (Unaudited) December 31, March 31, 2005 2006 Cash and marketable securities $9,285,000 $9,051,000 Other current assets 136,000 103,000 Total assets $9,421,000 $9,154,000 Current liabilities $157,000 $179,000 Total stockholders’ equity 9,264,000 8,975,000 Total liabilities and equity $9,421,000 $9,154,000
AutoImmune Inc.
CONTACT: Robert C. Bishop, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer ofAutoImmune Inc., +1-626-792-1235
Web site: http://www.autoimmuneinc.com//
