Cosmo's 1st-half loss up 325% on R&D costs

Italian drugmaker Cosmo Pharmaceuticals, which joined the Swiss SWX exchange earlier this year ( Marketletter March 5), says that its net loss for the first six months of 2007 was 1.7 million euros ($2.4 million) up from the 400,000 euro deficit it recorded in the comparable period last year. The firm said the shortfall was due to a 54% increase in drug development costs, citing the Phase II/III trials of its broad spectrum antibiotic Rifamycin MMX (CB-01-11) as a key expenditure.

On a positive note, Cosmo's revenues for the period were up 31.6% to 9.9 million euros, with third-party manufacturing contracts providing the majority of this income. The firm added that the ulcerative colitis drug Lialda (mesalamine), which was first licensed to fellow Italian firm Giuliani before being launched in the USA under a sub-license deal by UK drugmaker Shire (Marketletter March 26), is likely to contribute royalties of between $75.0 million and $95.0 million by 2013.