Vertex Pharma's 2006 net loss rises 1.7%

US drugmaker Vertex Pharmaceuticals says that its full-year 2006 net loss, on a Generally-Accepted Accounting Principles basis, was $206.9 million, or $1.83 per share, versus $203.4 million and $2.28 per share for the like, year-ago period. The slightly higher deficit was due to a stock-based compensation expense of $39.1 million, a $3.7 million restructuring cost, and a $5.2 million loss on exchange of convertible subordinated notes, though these were partially offset by investment gains of $11.2 million.

The Cambridge Massachusetts-based firm said that its total revenues in 2006 reached $216.4 million, up from $160.9 million, due to income recognized from development activities in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson company Janssen Pharmaceutica, as part of their hepatitis C drug collaboration (Marketletter July 10, 2006), as well as revenue from a cancer accord with USA-based Merck & Co (Marketletter June 27, 2005) which offset a decline in revenue from the company's research collaborations. During the period, R&D expenses totaled $371.7 million, vs $248.5 million in 2005.