US Biopharma Firms See Research Bear Fruit In '96

Some US biopharmaceutical companies have started to see their productsreach the market, and have achieved their first product sales in 1996. This has also meant a reduction in losses for some companies.

Cambridge NeuroScience said that the increase in its net loss and the loss per share for the 1996 fourth-quarter and full-year reporting periods was the result of a decrease in R&D revenues. The firm said that partially offsetting this decrease in revenues [for the shareholders] was a rise in the number of weighted average shares outstanding in 1996, compared to 1995, as a result of the directed public offerings in the fourth quarter of 1995 and shares issued in September 1996 to Boehringer Ingelheim, one of CN's collaborative partners. R&D revenues in 1996 were $2.4 million, compared to $8.2 million in the previous year.

Chiron Corp said that unfavorable currency exchange rates had a negative impact on total revenues in 1996. When compared to rates in effect in 1995, total revenues for the fourth quarter of 1996 would have been $4.4 million higher. During the fourth quarter, Chiron and its partner Johnson & Johnson filed applications with the US Food and Drug Administration to manufacture and market a new wound-healing product. Two other products, a diagnostic test and a vaccine, filed earlier in 1996, are currently under review.