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Compugen's Q1 Loss up 18 Percent as It Ramps Up Commercialization Efforts

By a GenomeWeb staff reporter

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Compugen today reported that its first-quarter 2010 net loss swelled 18 percent, as the firm's expenses for R&D, sales, and other purposes rose but its 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 $125,000 for the three-month period ended Mar. 31, compared to no revenue for last year's first quarter.

The company said that its net loss rose to $2.7 million, or $.08 per share, from $2.3 million, also $.08 per share, with part of that increase being due to a jump in stock-based compensation.

Compugen's R&D spending for the first quarter was $1.6 million, up from $1.3 million, a jump of 23 percent, while its marketing, business development, and general and administrative expenses increased 42 percent to $1.2 million from $851,000.

The increase in general and administrative expenses came from an increase in stock-based compensation, which rose to $609,000 for the first quarter this year compared to $205,000 over the comparable period a year ago.

Compugen Chairman Martin Gerstel said in a statement that the company has over the past year introduced two new discovery platforms for use in drug discovery applications, and it has developed and validated a total of 12 drug and diagnostic platforms.

"Based on these achievements, we are now substantially increasing our commercialization efforts, focusing primarily on additional product specific agreements and 'discovery on demand' collaborations," Gerstel added.

At the end of the quarter, Compugen had $22.9 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term bank deposits.

In early Tuesday trade on the Nasdaq, Compugen's shares rose 1 percent to $4.87.