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"The launch of our first commercial product, ColonSentry(TM), a blood test to assess a patient's current risk of having colorectal cancer, marks the completion of our Company's transition into a fully commercial enterprise. ColonSentry is the world's first blood test for colorectal cancer screening and we believe this unique product will facilitate earlier detection and treatment of the disease, resulting in improved outcomes for patients with colorectal cancer," said Dr. Heiner Dreismann, Lead Director and Interim CEO of GeneNews. "Over the coming quarters, our focus will be on driving adoption of ColonSentry in Canada, subsequent launches of the test in Asia, the United States and Europe, and further development of our pipeline of innovative molecular diagnostic tests for a range of disease indications."
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Financial results (CDN dollars) for the three-month and six month periods ended June 30, 2008:
Total revenue for the first quarter was $0.3 million (year-to-date - $0.6) compared to $nil (year-to-date - $1.7 million) for the same periods last year. Revenue in the second quarter resulted from a collaboration agreement entered into with an Asian biomedical consortium to identify and validate a set of biomarkers in the field of prostate diseases, for a total fee of $2 million (USD), while revenue in 2007 resulted from a collaboration agreement with Pfizer completed in the first fiscal quarter of 2007.
Total operating expenditures for the second quarter were $4.3 million (year-to-date - $7.3 million) compared with $2.7 million (year-to-date - $6.2 million) for the same periods last year. Research and development expenses in the second quarter were $3.0 million (year-to-date - $5.2 million) compared with $1.8 million (year-to-date - $4.4 million) for the same periods last year. General and administrative expenses for the second quarter were $0.8 million (year-to-date - $1.3 million) compared with $0.6 million (year-to-date - $1.3) for the corresponding periods in the previous year.
The net loss for the second quarter was $4.0 million or a loss of $0.07 per common share compared with a net loss of $2.3 million or a loss of $0.04 per common share for the same period last year. Year to date, the net loss was $6.6 (2007 - $4.0) million or a loss of $0.12 (2007 - $0.07) per common share. The net loss is reflective of the Company's continuing focus on research and development and product development which has led on July 21, 2008 to the launch of its first product, ColonSentry(TM), and the advancement of related products in the Company's pipeline.
As at June 30, 2008, the Company's cash and cash equivalents amounted to $6.7 million compared to $11.3 million as at December 31, 2007. The Company believes it has adequate resources to continue through the first quarter of 2009 based on its current cash and cash equivalent position.
As at June 30, 2008 the Company had 55,883,437 common shares and 6,483,738 stock options outstanding.
Management's Discussion and Analysis of the financial statements for the three-month and six-month periods ended June 30, 2008 is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
About GeneNews
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GeneNews is focused on the application of functional genomics to enable early diagnosis and personalized therapeutic intervention based on disease-specific biomarkers. The Company has developed a novel approach, the Sentinel Principle(TM), to detect and stage virtually any disease or medical condition from a simple blood sample. GeneNews is currently applying th
