- Conference Call Scheduled for Today at 5:00 p.m. EDT -
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2008.
Total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2008 was $5.4 million, with a net loss of $37.2 million. As of December 31, 2008, cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $10.6 million, with no outstanding debt. Sunesis Pharmaceuticals separately announced today the execution of a securities purchase agreement with accredited investors, including certain members of management, providing for a private placement, subject to the satisfaction of conditions, of up to $43.5 million in a tranched financing, including two tranches of units consisting of convertible preferred stock and common stock warrants, and a tranche of common stock.
Recent Highlights
Financial Highlights
Conference Call Information
Sunesis management will host a conference call today to review the fourth quarter and full-year 2008 financial results and the private placement transaction separately announced today and to provide a general business update at 5:00 p.m. EDT / 2:00 p.m. PDT. Individual and institutional investors can access the call via 1-877-874-1567 (U.S. and Canada) or +1- 719-325-4788 (international). To access the live audio webcast or the subsequent archived recording, visit the "Investors and Media - Calendar of Events" section of the Sunesis website at www.sunesis.com. The webcast will be recorded and available for replay on Sunesis' website until April 15, 2009.
About Voreloxin
Voreloxin is a first-in-class anticancer quinolone derivative, or AQD, a class of compounds that has not been used previously for the treatment of cancer. Voreloxin both intercalates DNA and inhibits topoisomerase II, resulting in replication-dependent, site-selective DNA damage, G2 arrest and apoptosis. Voreloxin is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial (known as the REVEAL-1 trial) in previously untreated elderly AML patients and in a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial combining voreloxin with cytarabine for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory AML, as well as in an ongoing Phase 2 single-agent trial in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
About Acute Myeloid Leukemia
AML is a rapidly progressing cancer of the blood characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of immature blast cells in the bone marrow. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society estimates that over 13,000 new cases of AML were diagnosed and approximately 9,000 deaths from AML occurred in the U.S. during 2007. AML is generally a disease of older adults, and the median age of a patient diagnosed with AML is about 67 years. A majority of elderly patients are not considered candidates for standard induction therapy or decline therapy, resulting in an acute need for new treatment options.
About Ovarian Cancer
In the United States, ovarian cancer remains the leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancies and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death overall in women behind lung, breast, colorectal and pancreatic cancers. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2008 there were an estimated 21,650 new cases and more than 15,000 deaths from ovarian cancer in the U.S. alone. Following frontline treatment, recurrence rates among ovarian cancer patients are high. Treatment options remain limited following relapse, and overall long-term survival has not changed significantly over the past 40 years, with five-year survival rates at less than 30 percent.
About Sunesis Pharmaceuticals
Sunesis is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new oncology therapeutics for the treatment of hematologic and solid cancers. Sunesis has built a highly experienced cancer drug development organization committed to advancing its lead product candidate, voreloxin, in multiple indications to improve the lives of people with cancer. For additional information on Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, please visit http://www.sunesis.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements related to the potential safety, efficacy and commercial potential of voreloxin; planned additional clinical testing and development efforts for voreloxin; the timing of enrollment in the ongoing clinical trials of voreloxin; and the sufficiency of Sunesis' cash resources. Words such as "contributed," "positive," "potential," "believe," "achieved," "interim," "suggests," "improved," "show," "encouraging," "well tolerated" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Sunesis' current expectations. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Sunesis' 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 satisfaction of the conditions to the completion of the financing transaction announced today and Sunesis' need for additional funding; the risk that Sunesis' development activities for voreloxin, including enrollment and reporting of results, could be halted significantly or delayed for various reasons; the risk that Sunesis' clinical trials for voreloxin may not demonstrate safety or efficacy or lead to regulatory approval; the risk that preliminary data and trends may not be predictive of future data or results; the risk that Sunesis' preclinical studies and clinical trials may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA or other regulatory agencies; and risks related to the conduct of Sunesis' clinical trials and manufacturing. These and other risk factors are discussed under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in Sunesis' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2008, Current Report on Form 8-K anticipated to be filed on the date of this press release and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sunesis expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the company's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.
SUNESIS and the logo are trademarks of Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CONTACT: Investor Contact, Eric Bjerkholt, +1-650-266-3717, or Media
Contact, Dan Weinseimer, +1-650-266-3739, both of Sunesis Pharmaceuticals,
Inc.
Web site: http://www.sunesis.com/
