Somatogen Reports Higher 1st Qtr Loss

For the first quarter of 1996, US company Somatogen reported a net loss of $5.4 million, or $0.26 per share, compared with a loss of $4.1 million in the like, year earlier period. The increased net loss is attributed primarily to expanded R&D activities and clinical trials of its recombinant human hemoglobin product Optro, an oxygen therapeutic for use in surgery, which is being co-developed with Eli Lilly.

R&D spending for the period reached $5.15 million, up 40.9%, while general, administrative and marketing costs were fairly flat at $1.0 million. The company noted that it has had US approval for an Investigational New Drug application to study rHb in additional uses, for example in the treatment of anemia.