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Total revenues for the current quarter increased to $1,675,000 compared to$363,000 for the comparable quarter last year, and were primarily generatedfrom services provided by Avid Bioservices, the company's wholly ownedcontract manufacturing subsidiary.
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Total costs and expenses increased to $8,077,000 in the third quarter ofFY 2008 from $5,643,000 in the same prior year quarter. The increase wasprimarily related to the increase in the cost of contract manufacturing of$1,066,000 during the quarter resulting from higher reported revenues fromexternal customers, in addition to the increase in research and developmentexpenses of $1,034,000 associated with the advancement of the company'sclinical and preclinical product candidates. Research and developmentexpenses were $4,941,000 in the third quarter of FY 2008, compared to$3,907,000 in the third quarter of FY 2007. At January 31, 2008, the companyhad $20,063,000 in cash and cash equivalents compared to $16,044,000 at fiscalyear end April 30, 2007.
"The past quarter was highlighted by a major milestone in our oncologyprogram, as we dosed the first patients in a Phase II trial evaluatingbavituximab in combination with chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer,"said Steven W. King, president and CEO of Peregrine. "We also receivedregulatory approval to initiate two additional bavituximab Phase II cancertrials -- a second breast cancer study and a trial in patients with non-smallcell lung cancer, a leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Planning forthese trials is well underway and we anticipate initiating both studies nextmonth. We also made progress in our Cotara clinical program in patients withglioblastoma multiforme (GBM), today announcing promising data from theongoing dosimetry and Phase II trials showing that several patients arealready surviving longer than the expected six-month median survival time forthis patient population, with the longest surviving patient now at 15 monthspost-treatment. Patients who are continuing in the trials are beingmonitored for safety and overall survival, and we look forward to providingfurther updates on these trials going forward. We have also recently expandedthe number of clinical sites in the Phase Il study to eight and also added adistinguished brain cancer center and experienced Cotara clinical studysite -- the Barrow Neurological Institute -- to our dosimetry study in theU.S."
Mr. King added, "Our initiative to raise awareness for the bavituximab andCotara programs in the scientific and medical communities scored gains,including an oral presentation covering the clinical experience to date in thebavituximab Phase I cancer program at Angio 2008, an oral presentation ofclinical data from our Phase I bavituximab trial in hepatitis C patients atthe prestigious 2007 Liver Meeting(R), a recent publication in Clinical CancerResearch highlighting bavituximab's ability to target tumor blood vessels withexcellent specificity, and the acceptance last week of an abstract discussingpatient data from the Cotara dosimetry trial for presentation at the 2008 ASCOAnnual Meeting. We anticipate additional high profile scientific publicationsand presentations in the
