ExonHit 2007 loss up 56% on higher costs

French drug discovery and development firm ExonHit Therapeutics SA reported an operating loss of 7.8 million euros ($12.0 million) for the year ended December 31, 2007, up 56% on its deficit for the prior year. The firm said that the increase was due to a combination of higher operating costs, up 24% to 13.2 million euros, a 16% hike in general and administrative costs and a 27% rise, to 8.6 million, in its R&D expenditure.

ExonHit also said that its total revenue for the period was down nearly 5% to 5.4 million euros, of which 89% was from the firm's partnership with US drugmaker Allergan. ExonHit said that the drop, which was despite double-digit growth in its Therapeutics and SpliceArray operations, was due to a reduced contribution from its collaboration with bioMerieux, which provided a significant milestone in 2006.

2008 dominated by collaborations