ArQule's 1st-qtr loss narrows to $13.9M

US drugmaker ArQule's first-quarter 2008 net loss totaled $13.9 million, or $0.32 per share, versus a net loss of $14.5 million, or $0.40 per share, in the comparable period the year before. Revenues almost doubled to $3.5 million vs $1.6 million, boosted by a milestone payment and licensing revenue from Japanese partner Kyowa related to ARQ 197, as well as financial support from Swiss drug major Roche on their E2F-1 program.

During the period, R&D amounted to $13.4 million vs $13.7 million, while general and administrative expenses increased to $5.6 million vs $3.5 million, due to non-cash, stock-based compensation costs resulting from amendments to the company's employment agreements with Stephen Hill, its previous president and chief executive, who left to join the US unit of Belgian drugmaker Solvay.

Commenting on the firm's operational highlights, chief operating officer Peter Lawrence noted that, in March, ArQule enrolled the first patient in a Phase I/II trial of ARQ 197 plus erlotinib in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The firm also received a $3.0 million milestone payment when Japanese drugmaker Kyowa Hakko Kogyo moved an ArQule-originated c-Met inhibitor cancer drug candidate into Phase I testing.