LSBC’s Revenues Drop, Losses Narrow
Large Scale Biology reported a sharp decline in revenues as well as narrowed losses for the first quarter of 2004 last week. The company’s revenues totaled $320,000, down from $850,000 during the same quarter last year.
LSBC’s net loss amounted to $4.3 million, or $.16 per share, down from $7.6 million, or $.3 per share, during the year-ago period.
R&D costs were $2.2 million, down from $3.2 million during the same period last year. As of March 31, LSBC had $11.2 million in cash and marketable securities.
Bruker Closes Public Offering
Bruker BioSciences announced last week that it has closed its public offering of 17.3 million shares.
Of the shares, 3.5 million were sold by the company and 13.8 million by four stockholders related to CEO Frank Laukien. The stock was priced at $4.50 per share.
The company said previously that it hoped to raise a total of $12.6 million from the offering. The proceeds will be used for “general corporate purposes, potential acquisitions, and possibly for the repayment of debt,” the company said in a statement.
Beckman Coulter Reports Revenues Up, Income Down in Q1
Beckman Coulter this week reported increased revenues but lower earnings for the first quarter of 2004.
The company had $536.8 million in revenues, up from $467.3 million during the first quarter last year.
Net earnings decreased to $35.6 million, or $.57 per share, down from $44.6 million, or $.73 per share, during the first quarter last year.
R&D expenses increased to $48.1 million, from $45.5 million during the same period in 2003. As of March 31, Beckman had $49 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Syrrx Receives $2M ATP Grant for Nanoscale Crystallization
Syrrx announced this week that it has received an Advanced Technology Program grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop nanoscale arrays for improving the crystallization of membrane proteins. The grant is for $2 million over three years, according to the ATP website.
The technology that the San Diego-based company hopes to develop with the grant money involves using a regularly repeating nanoscale pattern to induce crystallization. The company plans to conduct over 100,000 experiments and will subcontract Santa Clara, Calif.-based Parallel Synthesis Technologies to engineer the nanoscale surfaces.
The new technology could reduce drug development time and costs, according to Syrrx.
ProMetic Completes Proof of Principle with ARC
ProMetic Life Sciences of Montreal announced this week that it has completed a proof-of-principle screening project in conjunction with the American Red Cross, in which it used its Mimetic Ligands and Cascade Process to select for seven protein therapeutics in plasma.
In particular, the company succeeded in pulling out large amounts of alpha-1 proteinase, von Willebrand factor, and factor VIII for the treatment of hemophilia.
“Our ultimate goal is to develop the next generation of plasma-derived therapeutic protein products while setting new standards for process economics and product quality,” Christopher Bryant, program director of the joint project, said in a statement.
Aptanomics and Nanosyn to Collaborate on Cancer Drugs
Lyon, France-based Aptanomics and Menlo Park, Calif.-based Nanosyn announced this week that they are collaborating on a cancer drug discovery effort.
As part of the deal, Aptanomics will apply its peptide aptamer technology to screen Nanosyn’s small molecule libraries. After identifying initial hits, Nanosyn will provide Aptanomics with small molecule arrays and other chemistry services.
Micromet Uses Biacore’s SPR for Antibody Concentration Assays
Biacore announced this week that Munich-based Micromet has constructed an assay using its SPR technology to determine the concentrations of monoclonal antibodies being produced for the treatment of prostate cancer.
“Bioacore lends itself to speedy qualification for use in concentration measurement application in GMP-regulated laboratories. This is just one of a number of examples of Biacore’s broad application in the GMP environment,” Fredrik Sundberg, marketing manager, drug development, QC and validation at Biacore, said in a statement.