Bavarian Nordic's nine-month revenue halves

Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic's revenue for the first nine months of 2007 was 64.0 million kroner ($12.4 million), which primarily derives from the ongoing contracts with the US government covering the RFP-1 and RFP-2 MVA-based smallpox vaccine programs, versus 141.8 million kroner in the comparable period the year before. The firm says that its lower revenue is due to alignment of clinical trials under the RFP-2 contract in cooperation with the US authorities to the RFP-3 contract, so that the efficiency of the clinical trials is improved in relation to the defined target groups. It notes that the majority of the deferred revenue is expected to be realized during 2008.

Income before tax was a loss of 218.9 million kroner vs 145.2 million kroner, as R&D costs totalled 174.8 million kroner vs 86.8 million kroner, primarily due to costs regarding optimization and testing of the Kvistgaard, Denmark, production facility. The goup's sales and administrative expenses decreased to 67.1 million kroner vs 97.7 million kroner, which is significantly lower than in the same period in the previous year. This is primarily attributed to lower legal fees in connection to law suits and patents.

The company's expectations for the full year result are maintained at a loss before tax of 50.0 million kroner, despite lower revenue of 350.0 million kroner compared to the previously-issued guide of revenue at 380.0 million kroner, due to delays in the RFP-2 contract.