Compugen Stock Plummets as Company Posts 50-Percent Drop in Q3 Revenue

This article has been updated from an earlier version to include share prices.

NEW YORK, Nov. 1 (GenomeWeb News) - Shares in Compugen were down 9.5 percent, or $.42, at $4 in mid-afternoon trading today as the company posted a 50-percent fall-off in third-quarter revenue, and said its CEO and president intends to resign.

Releasing its earnings over the weekend, the Israeli biotech booked $1 million in revenues for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down from $2 million during the same period last year. Compugen blamed the results on the discontinuation of certain products tied to the company's new focus on diagnostics and drug discovery.
 

R&D expenses decreased slightly to $2.8 million from $3.1 million during the same quarter in 2003.

The company's net loss widened to $3.6 million, or $.13 per share, from $3.2 million, or $.12 per share, during the year-ago quarter.

"These results reflect the implementation of the company's previously announced decision to focus on diagnostic and therapeutic discovery and related intellectual property based commercialized and alliances," Compugen said in a statement.

In the statement, Compugen said Mor Amitai, its president and CEO, will step down by the end of next year. Amitai said he will leave so that Compugen may hire a CEO with "more experience in pharmaceutical product development and commercialization."

As of Sept. 30, Compugen had $25 million in cash, cash equivalents, short-term cash deposits, and short-term marketable securities.