QUEBEC CITY, March 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - DiagnoCure, Inc. (TSX: CUR) today reported financial and operational results for the first quarter 2013 ended January 31, 2013. The Corporation announced a net loss of $788,237 or $0.02 per share for this quarter. At the end of the quarter, cash, short-term investments and long-term investments stood at $5,205,536.
Recent Highlights
The arrival during the quarter of two new directors on DiagnoCure’s Board, Dr. Jacques Simoneau, President and CEO of Gestion Univalor L.P. and Mr. Andy Sheldon, President and CEO of Medicago inc., has provided new momentum to the Corporation, bringing additional positive outlooks on DiagnoCure’s future.
On January 11, 2013, DiagnoCure reached mutually agreeable terms on the release of Previstage GCC from Signal Genetics. The Corporation is now actively seeking to license the technology to a new partner with significant commercial presence in the diagnostics market. DiagnoCure believes that Previstage GCC represents a significant advance in providing physicians with a more sensitive tool for staging patients with colorectal cancer.
Close to a year after the approval of the PROGENSA® PCA3 assay by the FDA, royalties received from sales in the United States increased by 84% during the quarter compared to the same period of 2012. While it is too soon to draw conclusions regarding growth of PCA3 revenues, the observed increase provides a basis for being optimistic that we may be seeing the beginning of a positive trend in the United States.
Results of the First Quarter 2013
Total revenues for the first quarter of 2013 were $167,916 compared with $556,158 for the same period of 2012. This decrease of $388,242 is attributable to the January 11th termination of that development and license agreements signed in June 2011 with Signal Genetics. The development agreement provided $268,567 of revenues in the first quarter of 2012. The remaining decrease is attributable to the last payment made by Gen-Probe in relation to the FDA milestone reached for PROGENSA® PCA3 in the first quarter of 2012. The Q1 2012 revenues related to the FDA milestone were $123,800. In the first quarter of 2013, royalty revenues from Hologic Gen-Probe increased by $22,904, or 16%, to $167,916, from $145,012 for the same period of 2012. This increase is attributable to an increase of 84% in U.S. royalty revenues as compared to the same period in 2012, offset by a decrease in European royalty revenues continuing to reflect a general softness in the European markets.
Operating expenses decreased by $422,709, to $956,153 for the first three months of 2013 from $1,378,862 for the same period of 2012. This decrease is mainly attributable to the termination of the development agreement performed in Q1 2012 in support to the PrevistageTM GCC Colorectal Cancer Staging Test.
Financial Data
For the three months periods ended January 31 | ||
2013 | 2012 | |
$ | $ | |
Research collaboration revenues | 268,567 | |
License and royalty revenues | 167,916 | 287,591 |
Total revenues | 167,916 | 556,158 |
Operating expenses (before stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortization) | 698,116 | 1,081,923 |
Net loss (before stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortization) | (530,200) | (525,765) |
Stock-based compensation | 38,682 | 49,188 |
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment | 19,834 | 32,210 |
Amortization of intangible asset | 199,521 | 215,541 |
Net loss and comprehensive loss | (788,237) | (822,704) |
Basic and diluted net loss per share | (0.02) | (0.02) |
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding | 43,040,471 | 43,013,471 |
Consolidated Balance Sheets
January 31, 2013 | October 31, 2012 | |
Cash, cash equivalents, temporary and long-term investments | 5,205,536 | 5,824,771 |
Total assets | 10,458,890 | 11,256,369 |
Shareholders’ equity | 9,698,532 | 10,448,087 |
Number of shares outstanding | 43,040,471 | 43,040,471 |
Conference call
DiagnoCure’s management will host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. (EDT) on March 11, 2013. Interested participants may listen to the call by dialing 1-888-231-8191 or 514-807-9895 and referencing code 11472852 approximately 15 minutes prior to the call. The Corporation will also provide a live webcast of the call. Interested participants may access the webcast on DiagnoCure’s website at www.diagnocure.com, through a link on the Investors page - Presentations. A replay of the webcast will be available on DiagnoCure’s website for those unable to participate in the live webcast.
About DiagnoCure
DiagnoCure (TSX: CUR) is a life sciences corporation that develops and commercializes high-value cancer diagnostic tests that increase clinician and patient confidence in making critical treatment decisions. In 2008, the Corporation launched a colorectal cancer staging test through its U.S. CLIA laboratory. PrevistageTM GCC is currently available for licensing. The Corporation has granted a worldwide exclusive license agreement to Gen-Probe, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hologic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLX) operating as Hologic Gen-Probe, for the development and commercialization of a prostate cancer test using PCA3, DiagnoCure’s proprietary molecular biomarker. Hologic Gen-Probe’s PROGENSA® PCA3 test is commercialized in Europe under CE mark and is approved for commercialization in Canada and the United States. For more information, visit www.diagnocure.com.
Forwardlooking statements
This release contains forwardlooking statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expected. By their very nature, forwardlooking statements are based on expectations and hypotheses and also involve risks and uncertainties, known and unknown, many of which are beyond DiagnoCure’s control. As a result, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forwardlooking statements. The forward-looking statements regarding the outcome of research and development projects, clinical studies and future revenues are based on management expectations. In addition, the reader is referred to the applicable general risks and uncertainties described in DiagnoCure’s most recent Annual Information Form under the heading “Risk Factors”. DiagnoCure undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forwardlooking statements contained herein unless required by the applicable securities laws and regulations.
SOURCE DiagnoCure inc.