Acambis sees flat 1st-qtr sales and losses double

UK-based vaccine developer Acambis saw first-quarter 2006 sales flat at L6.0 million ($11.2 million), with R&D costs up 36% at L9.8 million. As a result of heavy research spending, the company's pretax loss widened to L11.4 million, or 10.5 pence a share, compared with L5.8 million in the like, 2005 period. Its main source of revenues were the firm's fixed-price 155 million-dose smallpox vaccine contract with the USA's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, two contracts for MVA3000 with the US National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases and product sales of the oral typhoid vaccine Vivotif. Acambis also said that litigation with Bavarian Nordic regarding MVA smallpox vaccine is currently in progress with the US International Trade Commission and is scheduled to continue through May 17.