SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Exelixis, Inc. today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008.
Revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 were $27.9 million, compared to $28.1 million for the comparable period in 2007. Revenues for 2008 were generally consistent with 2007, but reflect the completion of revenue recognition associated with our collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited for our Mineralocorticoid Receptor (MR) program and the exclusion of revenue of our former subsidiary Artemis Pharmaceuticals GmbH, which is no longer consolidated as a result of the sale of 80.1% of our ownership in 2007. These items were offset by the revenue recognition associated with our collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company for various oncology programs and with Genentech, Inc. for the co-development of our MEK inhibitor XL518.
Research and development expenses for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 were $66.0 million, compared to $50.2 million for the comparable period in 2007. The increase from 2007 to 2008 primarily reflects the increased development expenses associated with the continued advancement and expansion of our clinical trial activity.
General and administrative expenses for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 were $8.7 million, compared to $11.2 million for the comparable period in 2007. The decrease from 2007 to 2008 was primarily due to the allocation of general corporate costs (such as facilities costs) to research and development, which primarily reflects the growth of the research and development function compared to the general and administrative function.
Net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 was $41.3 million, or $0.39 per share, compared to $24.2 million, or $0.25 per share, for the comparable period in 2007. The increase in net loss from 2007 to 2008 was primarily due to the increase in the research and development activity described above.
Cash and cash equivalents, short-term and long-term marketable securities, investments held by Symphony Evolution, Inc. (a consolidated clinical development financing vehicle) and restricted cash and investments totaled $252.2 million at March 31, 2008, compared to $299.5 million at December 31, 2007.
“This year’s ASCO promises to be a significant event for Exelixis,” said George A. Scangos, PhD, president and chief executive officer of Exelixis, Inc. “We will make seven presentations, which is our largest presence at ASCO to date, and we will provide a wealth of new data on four of our lead compounds. We believe this data will meaningfully differentiate our compounds from the competition. With the number of abstracts selected for presentation at ASCO and six selections by partners, the quality of our compounds is being increasingly recognized and validated.”
Conference Call and Webcast
Exelixis’ management will discuss the company’s first quarter ended March 31, 2008 financial results as well as a general update on the company’s financial position and business, including its development pipeline and corporate strategy, during a conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PT/ 5:00 p.m. ET today, Tuesday, May 6, 2008. To listen to a webcast of the discussion, visit the Event Calendar page under Investors at http://www.exelixis.com.
About Exelixis
Exelixis, Inc. is a development-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. The company is leveraging its fully integrated drug discovery platform to fuel the growth of its development pipeline, which is primarily focused on cancer. Currently, Exelixis’ broad product pipeline includes investigational compounds in phase 2 and phase 1 clinical development. Exelixis has established strategic corporate alliances with major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Daiichi-Sankyo. For more information, please visit the company’s web site at http://www.exelixis.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements related to the future development and potential efficacy of our compounds, our partners’ decisions under their respective collaborations with us, and the impact of new data to be presented on our compounds. Words such as “hope,” “plan,” “may,” “expect,” “continue,” “believe,” “when,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon our current plans, assumptions, beliefs and expectations. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward- looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to the potential failure of our compounds to demonstrate safety and efficacy in clinical testing, our relationship with our partners, our ability to enter into new collaborations, continue existing collaborations and receive milestones and royalties under our collaborative agreements, the timing and level of expenses associated with the growth of proprietary programs and other collaborations, the ability to co-develop and generate revenues under collaborations with our partners, our ability to meet industry expectations with data from clinical trials involving any of our compounds, and the therapeutic and commercial value of our compounds. These and other risk factors are discussed under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We expressly disclaim any duty, obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.
CONTACT: Frank Karbe, Chief Financial Officer, +1-650-837-7565,
fkarbe@exelixis.com, or Charles Butler, Senior Director, Corporate
Communications & Investor Relations, +1-650-837-7277, cbutler@exelixis.com,
both of Exelixis, Inc.
Web site: http://www.exelixis.com/
