Enzo's revenues soar 86% in fiscal 1st-qtr

US biotechnology firm Enzo Biochem says that its loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 was $1.2 million, unchanged from the year-earlier period. The firm explained that the deficit included a $600,000 pretax inventory adjustment related to its acquisition of Axxora Life Sciences earlier in the year (Marketletters passim).

Revenues increased 86% to $19.4 million on the previous year, driven by a 436% hike in product sales to $5.9 million. Enzo also said that it income from royalties and licensing operations increased 79% and 12%, respectively, contributing a combined $2.3 million. In addition, turnover from the firm's Clinical Labs division grew 40% to $11.3 million, largely through an enhanced provider agreement with US insurer United Healthcare/Oxford.

Enzo also reported that it has made considerable progress in its drug development operations, with the Phase II immunomodulatory Crohn's disease candidate Alequel taking center stage. Other products discussed in the update include: EGS21, which is in Phase II trials as a treatment for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; the candidate uveitis agent Optaquel (B27PD); and HGTV43, which is currently the subject of research assessing it as a means of boosting CD4+ cells that contain HIV-1 antisense genes.