AVI BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVII) today reported financial results
for the three and 12 months ended December 31, 2007. The net loss
for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $4.1 million, or $0.07 per
share, compared with a net loss for the fourth quarter of 2006 of
$6.1 million, or $0.11 per share. Revenues for the fourth quarter
of 2007 were $5.2 million, up from $18,000 in the fourth quarter of
2006, reflecting increases in research contracts revenues of $5.1
million, license fees of $31,000 and grant revenues of $6,000.
Research and development (R&D) expenses for the quarter
increased to $9.4 million from $6.7 million in the fourth quarter
of 2006. The increase reflects $1.9 million in contracting costs
for the production of GMP subunits, higher expenses for government
research contracts, and chemical and lab supply costs, partially
offset by lower compensation-related costs of $240,000. General and
administrative (G&A) expenses decreased to $1.5 million from
$2.1 million in the prior year period. The decrease was due
primarily to lower compensation-related costs, partially offset by
higher accounting and legal expenses. For the year ended December
31, 2007, AVI reported a net loss of $27.2 million, or $0.50 per
share, compared with a net loss for the year ended December 31,
2006 of $28.7 million, or $0.54 per share. Revenues for 2007 were
$11.0 million, up from $115,000 in 2006, reflecting increases in
research contracts revenues of $10.8 million and license fees of
$125,000, partially offset by decreases in grants revenues of
$51,000. R&D expenses during 2007 increased to $34.8 million
from $25.3 million in the prior year, reflecting $4.5 million
expensed for government research contracts and $3.9 million in
contracting costs for the production of GMP subunits, partially
offset by decreases in employee costs of $1.2 million. G&A
expenses increased to $9.3 million from $7.8 million, due primarily
to increases in compensation costs of $850,000, of which $1.6
million was related to the Separation and Release Agreement with
the company�s former chief executive officer, partially offset by
decreases in SFAS 123R expenses of $320,000 and salary and bonuses
of $550,000. AVI had cash, cash equivalents and short-term
securities of $25.1 million as of December 31, 2007, a decrease of
$8.1 million from December 31, 2006. This decrease was due
primarily to $24.7 million used in operations and $2.1 million used
for purchases of equipment and patent-related costs, offset by the
receipt of $18.6 million in net proceeds from a private equity
financing and $119,000 from the exercise of warrants and options,
and sales under the company�s employee stock purchase plan. Board
of Directors Update AVI also announced that Michael D. Casey has
been elected Chairman of the Board of Directors, following the
resignation, effective March 10, 2008, of Jack L. Bowman from the
Board of Directors for personal reasons. Mr. Casey, who has served
as a director of AVI since May 2006, was previously President,
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Matrix Pharmaceutical,
Inc.; President of two divisions of Schein Pharmaceutical, Inc.;
and President and Chief Operating Officer of Genetic Therapy, Inc.
Mr. Casey also spent 25 years in senior positions with Johnson
& Johnson. He serves as a director of Allos Therapeutics, Inc.,
Celgene Corp., and Durect Corporation. He will continue to serve on
the company�s Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate
Governance Committee. �I am delighted to assume the Chairman
position at this important juncture, and am committed to supporting
AVI�s management team and staff in reaching our corporate
objectives and enhancing shareholder value,� said Mr. Casey. �On
behalf of the full board and everyone at AVI, I offer heartfelt
thanks to Jack Bowman for his guidance and insights. Jack
demonstrated able leadership in his position as Chairman during the
past transitional year, as well as through several previous years
as a Board member.� Corporate Priorities Unveiled �Our proprietary
NEUGENE� chemistry provides us with a tremendous opportunity to
leverage the control of alternative gene splicing for novel
therapeutics. With this technology we believe we can force the cell
machinery to skip over targeted packets of information called
exons, which in turn produces altered proteins. When the skipped
exon contains a disease-causing mutation, we believe that the
altered protein may restore function and potentially overcome the
devastating clinical consequences of the mutation,� said Leslie
Hudson, Ph.D., recently appointed Chief Executive Officer of AVI.
�Our ability to target affected regions of the cell for gene
splicing has increased with sequencing of the human genome and
subsequent advancements in identifying genes responsible for
specific diseases. As such, we believe that our NEUGENE technology,
and particularly our NEUGENE-based ESPRIT therapeutics, could have
applications in numerous indications.� �Going forward at AVI, we
plan on placing greater emphasis on NEUGENE applications for
chemical control of alternative gene splicing to increase the value
of our clinical pipeline,� he added. �We intend to adapt our
infrastructure to support an increased flow of product candidates
and to use our financial resources for the development of our
clinical stage projects. We also will review our extensive research
portfolio to prioritize projects for exploratory development and
the support of partnering efforts.� Conference Call AVI BioPharma
has scheduled an investor conference call regarding this
announcement, and the company�s current and planned business
activities, to be held today, March 12, 2008 beginning at 11:00
a.m. Eastern time (8:00 a.m. Pacific time). A webcast slide
presentation covering corporate strategy and pipeline updates will
accompany conference call commentary and is available on the
company�s homepage at www.avibio.com. Individuals interested in
listening to the conference call may do so by dialing (888)
803-8271 within the U.S. and Canada, or (706) 634-2467 for
international callers. A telephone replay of the conference call
will be available for 48 hours beginning within two hours of the
conclusion of the call, by dialing (800) 642-1687 for domestic
callers, or (706) 645-9291 for international callers, and entering
reservation number 38222923. The live conference call also will be
available to private investors via the Internet at www.avibio.com.
A replay of the call will be available on the company�s Web site
for 14 days following the completion of the call. About AVI
BioPharma AVI BioPharma develops therapeutic products for the
treatment of life-threatening diseases using third-generation
NEUGENE antisense drugs and ESPRIT exon skipping technology. AVI�s
ESPRIT technology is initially being applied to potential
treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. AVI�s NEUGENE compounds
are also designed to treat cardiovascular restenosis in stent and
coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures. In addition to
targeting specific genes in the body, AVI�s antiviral program uses
NEUGENE antisense compounds to combat disease by targeting
single-stranded RNA viruses, including Marburg and Ebola Zaire
viruses. More information about AVI is available at www.avibio.com.
�Safe Harbor� Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995: The statements that are not historical facts
contained in this release are forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the
results of research and development efforts, the results of
preclinical and clinical testing, the effect of regulation by the
FDA and other agencies, the impact of competitive products, product
development, commercialization and technological difficulties, and
other risks detailed in the company�s Securities and Exchange
Commission filings. AVI BIOPHARMA, INC. (A Development-Stage
Company) � STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (unaudited) � Three Months
Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31, 2007 � 2006 2007 � 2006
Revenues, from license fees, grants and research contracts $
5,186,319 $ 17,519 $ 10,985,191 $ 115,291 Operating expenses:
Research and development 9,401,465 6,721,547 34,760,402 25,345,588
General and administrative � 1,453,172 � � 2,068,201 � � 9,332,365
� � 7,752,752 � 10,854,637 8,789,748 44,092,767 33,098,340 � Other
income: Interest income, net 135,579 443,042 983,976 1,910,037 Gain
on warrant liability � 1,405,545 � � 2,250,049 � � 4,955,875 � �
2,385,502 � � Net loss $ (4,127,194 ) $ (6,079,138 ) $ (27,167,725
) $ (28,687,510 ) Net loss per share� basic and diluted $ (0.07 ) $
(0.11 ) $ (0.50 ) $ (0.54 ) Shares used in per share calculations �
55,252,905 � � 53,000,236 � � 53,942,015 � � 52,660,711 � BALANCE
SHEET HIGHLIGHTS (unaudited) � � � December 31, December 31, 2007
2006 Cash, cash equivalents and short-term securities $ 25,074,413
$ 33,152,132 Total current assets 28,711,451 33,939,913 Total
assets 38,637,930 40,862,746 Total current liabilities 9,752,329
8,343,421 Total shareholders� equity $ 26,381,748 $ 32,519,325
Avi Biopharma (NASDAQ:AVII)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Avi Biopharma (NASDAQ:AVII)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024