Toronto Stock Exchange Symbol: MS
EDMONTON, March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - BioMS Medical Corp. , a leading developer in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), today announced financial and operational results for the year ended December 31, 2008.
“Dirucotide has demonstrated the ability to safely affect MS progression in previous studies and we look forward to the results of the Canadian/European trial (MAESTRO-01) in the second half of this year,” said Kevin Giese, President and CEO of BioMS Medical. “Our hope is that the results of this trial will confirm that dirucotide is able to significantly slow the progression of MS, specifically in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.”
Currently, BioMS is conducting two clinical trials and one open-label follow-on trial of dirucotide for the treatment of secondary progressive MS (SPMS):
Licensing and Development Agreement with Lilly
On December 17, 2007, BioMS entered into a licensing and development agreement (the “Agreement”) granting Lilly exclusive worldwide rights to dirucotide. The transaction closed on January 25, 2008 and BioMS received an upfront payment of US $87 million. In September 2008, BioMS received a development milestone payment of US $10 million as a result of the positive interim analysis from the DSMB for MASESTRO-01. BioMS has the potential to receive future development and sales milestones up to US $400 million and escalating royalties on sales if dirucotide is commercialized.
Not later than sixty (60) days following receipt of the final written report of the results of the MAESTRO-01 trial, Lilly shall notify BioMS in writing whether Lilly will terminate the Agreement or alternatively Lilly shall bear 100% of any and all continuing development costs incurred by Lilly or BioMS for dirucotide.
HYC750 and BioCyDex
On May 9, 2008, BioMS entered into a Royalty and Assignment Agreement with Orcrist Bio. Inc. for HYC750, a technology based on hyaluronic acid that has a number of potential therapeutic uses and is being developed as a treatment for the side effects of chemotherapy. BioMS held an exclusive worldwide license to HYC750 from the University of Alberta. As a result of the Royalty and Assignment Agreement, BioMS terminated its license with the University of Alberta and the University entered into a direct license with Orcrist. BioMS assigned all BioMS owned patents relating to HYC750 and transfered all HYC750 assets to Orcrist. Under the terms of the agreement, BioMS will receive certain milestone payments in addition to a royalty on net sales of products which otherwise would have infringed on patents related to the HYC750 technology.
BioMS also ceased all development activities with respect to BioCyDex. Future development or licensing activities will be the responsibility of BioCyDex.
Financial Results
The consolidated net loss for the year ended December 31, 2008 was $0.5 million or ($0.01) per share compared with a consolidated net loss of $47.2 million or ($0.56) per share for the previous year. The consolidated net income for the three months ended December 31, 2008 was $0.3 million or $0.01 per share compared with a net loss of ($11.7) million or ($0.13) per share for the previous year.
Revenue of $52.6 million was recorded for the year ended December 31, 2008 compared to $Nil for the year ended December 31, 2007. The revenue is the result of the amortization of the upfront payment and development milestone received from the Agreement with Lilly. Investment income earned on funds invested for the year ended December 31, 2008 increased to $2.4 million from $1.6 million for 2007 due to the increase in cash and cash equivalents as a result of the Agreement with Lilly. The increase was partially offset by a general reduction in interest rates experienced in the market. The investment income is earned from the short-term investment of cash reserves in low risk term deposits and bankers acceptance notes.
Total consolidated expenses for the year ended December 31, 2008 were $61.9 million compared with $48.0 million for 2007. Total consolidated expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2008 totaled $16.5 million as compared to $12.1 million in the same quarter the previous year.
Research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2008 totaled $46.5 million compared with $38.9 million in 2007. Research and development expenses were $13.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2008 compared to $9.3 million for the same quarter the previous year. The increase in expenses was the net result of: achieving full enrolment of clinical sites and patients in the MAESTRO-03 trial; increased costs for the MAESTRO-02 trial as patients enter the trial; reduced costs of the MAESTRO-01 and MINDSET-01 trials as more patients complete these trials; a decrease in drug manufacturing expenses as the manufacture of validation batches is completed; a licensing bonus payment related to the Agreement with Lilly, and; additional expenses related to alliance management and support.
At December 31, 2008, cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $90.4 million as compared to $37.9 million at December 31, 2007. At December 31, 2008, the Company had working capital of $81.3 million as compared to $32.8 million at December 31, 2007. Management estimates that the current working capital is sufficient for the Company to meet its obligations in respect of the currently initiated clinical trials.
As at December 31, 2008 there were 91,009,323 Class “A” common shares of the Company issued and outstanding.
BioMS Medical is a biotechnology company engaged in the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic technologies. BioMS Medical’s lead technology, dirucotide, is for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and is being evaluated in two pivotal phase III clinical trials for Secondary Progressive MS patients, MAESTRO-01 in Canada and Europe and MAESTRO-03 in the United States. In December 2007, BioMS entered into a licensing and development agreement granting Eli Lilly and Company exclusive worldwide rights to dirucotide in exchange for an $87 million upfront payment, milestone payments and escalating royalties on sales. For further information please visit our website at http://www.biomsmedical.com
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which reflect the Corporation’s current expectation regarding future events. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, changing market conditions, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies, the establishment of corporate alliances, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process and other risks detailed from time to time in the Corporation’s ongoing quarterly and annual reporting. Certain of the assumptions made in preparing forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the following: that dirucotide will continue to demonstrate a satisfactory safety profile in ongoing and future clinical trials; and that BioMS Medical Corp. will complete the respective clinical trials within the timelines communicated in this release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
CONTACT: Tony Hesby, Ryan Giese, Amanda Stadel, BioMS Medical Corp., (780)
413-7152, (780) 408-3040 Fax, E-mail: info@biomsmedical.com, Internet:
http://www.biomsmedical.com; James Smith, Investor Relations, (416)
815-0700 ext. 229, (416) 815-0080 Fax, E-mail: jsmith@equicomgroup.com
