NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Compugen today reported that it had cut its fourth-quarter net loss 46 percent on lower spending, as the firm's revenues continued to be insignificant.
The Tel Aviv, Israel-based firm, which uses an in silico prediction and selection platform for discovering drug and diagnostic candidates, had revenues of $25,000 for the three-month period ended Dec. 31, compared to $11,000 for the fourth quarter of 2008.
It cut its net loss to $2 million, or $.07 per share, from $3.8 million, or $.13 per share, due to a decrease in spending.
Compugen's R&D spending for the quarter was $1.6 million, down from $2.5 million, while its marketing, business development, and general and administrative expenses fell to $598,000 from $1.3 million.
For full-year 2009, Compugen reported revenues of $250,000, down from $338,000.
The firm's net loss for the year was $3.8 million, or $.13 per share, down from $12.5 million, or $.44 per share, for FY 2008. One of the reasons for the steep decline in its loss was the second-quarter sale of part of its interest in Evogene, which was accounted for as $3.7 million in other income on its balance sheet.
Compugen's R&D spending for the year fell to 46 million from $9.3 million. Its marketing, business development, and general and administrative expenses declined to $2.8 million from $3.5 million.
The company finished the year with $15.6 million in cash, cash equivalents, short-term deposits, and marketable securities.
Anat Cohen-Dayag, president and co-CEO of Compugen said in a statement that the firm achieved major accomplishments in 2009, including the in vivo validation of product candidates predicted by the firm's in silico platform. Among them were novel therapeutic molecules or drug targets for epithelial tumors, inhibition of angiogenesis, inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease and pulmonary fibrosis, as well as biomarkers for preeclampsia, type 2 diabetes, ovarian cancer, and pre-clinical kidney toxicity, he said.
Compugen said that short-term financial target is to achieve cash flow breakeven by the end of 2011, based on revenues from milestone and revenue-sharing collaboration agreements.