Devgen's 1st-half sales 5.0M euros, down 19%

Belgian biotechnology firm Devgen reports that its revenues for the six-months to June 30, 2006, were 5.0 million euros ($6.3 million), down 19% on the year-earlier period. The company said that its results in the first half of 2005 included the accelerated completion of a research agreement with the USA's Fresenius Medical Care group, which it said resulted in the inclusion of 1.6 million euros in revenue being recorded in the period, which would otherwise have been reported in the second half of 2005.

Devgen explained that its crop protection business generated 4.8 million euros of its turnover, with its human therapeutics division contributing 200,000 euros. The company went on to say that its income from government grants increased to 1.1 million euros form 400,000 euros in 2005, and added that a further 700,000 euros of its first half revenue was derived from a new funding award it received from the Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders, Belgium.

The company also reported that its higher losses, which increased to 4.6 million euros from 575,000 euros, were a result of its increased R&D investment, in relation to the development of its anti-inflammatory products PKC-epsilon and Rock. The firm added the field and regulatory trials of its developmental nematicide remains on track, with preliminary data suggesting promising results.