MILAN, Italy, February 28, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Board of Directors of Biosearch Italia (Italian Nuovo Mercato: BIO.MI) (Other OTC:BOSHF) has approved the financial results of Biosearch Italia S.p.A. and Biosearch Group for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002.
Financial results in summary:
- net revenues equal to 6.5 million Euro; 6.3 million at the
consolidated level
- net losses equal to 12.3 million Euro; 12.8 million at the
consolidated level
- consolidated Net Financial Position equal to 101.1 million Euro
Operational Highlights
- Merger agreement of Biosearch with Versicor Inc. signed: the
merger to be effective from March 1, 2003;
- Versicor started Phase III studies of Dalbavancin for Skin and
Soft Tissue Infections;
- Versicor completed Phase II studies of Dalbavancin for Skin and
Soft Tissue Infections. The results, announced in September,
confirmed the clinical effectiveness of Dalbavancin, the first
once-weekly injectable antibiotic;
- Versicor started Phase II studies of Dalbavancin for
Staphylococcal and other serious Gram-positive infections;
- Enrollment for Phase I study of BI-K0376, the novel antibiotic
for the topical treatment of acne, completed;
- Rights for the nasal application of Ramoplanin for the treatment
of multiresistant Staphylococcus aureus carriers reacquired from
Intrabiotics Pharmaceuticals;
- Phase III clinical trial of Ramoplanin in the US by US licensee
Genome Therapeutics Corp. continuing to progress;
- Pre-clinical Research and Development activities continuing to
progress, to create a solid product pipeline;
- A 6.5 million Euro Innovation Technology Fund grant awarded by
the Italian government;
- Construction of the production plant in Pisticci (MT) continuing
to progress.
Financial Highlights
- Revenues: Biosearch Italia S.p.A. generated net revenues of 6.5m
Euro in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002, 2.4m Euro lower
than the previous fiscal year, in line with expectations and
primarily due to a reduction in licence fees. At the consolidated
level, net revenues equalled 6.3m Euro (8.8m Euro in 2001).
- Costs: in 2002, Biosearch Italia S.p.A.'s operating costs
totalled 18.3m Euro (excluding amortisation); in 2001 costs
equalled 19.8m Euro. At the consolidated level costs equalled
18.7m Euro (20.7m Euro in 2001). R&D expenditure totalled 9.7m
Euro, 5.7m Euro lower than in 2001, mainly due to the transfer of
development costs for Ramoplanin to the US licensee Genome
Therapeutics. Production costs equalled 2.9m Euro; up by 1.8m
Euro from 2001. General costs and administration costs were 5.7m
Euro, up 2.4m Euro from the previous year, mainly because of
legal and consulting expenses linked to the merger. Amortisation
costs totalled 3.6m Euro, 3.8m Euro at the consolidated level, in
line with 2001.
- Operating Income: a loss of 15.4m Euro at the Company level (14.6
Euro in 2001); at the consolidated level, the operating loss was
16.3m Euro compared to a loss of 15.8m Euro for 2001.
- Net financial income: 2.9m Euro at the consolidated level.
- Net losses: 12.3m Euro at the Company level, 11.1m Euro in 2001;
at the consolidated level net losses equalled 12.8m Euro, (12.2m
Euro on December 31, 2001).
- Net Financial Position: 101.1m Euro at the consolidated level
(112.8m Euro on December 31, 2001). The variation is mainly due
to fixed investments: 8.1m Euro for the production plant in
Pisticci and 1m Euro for the Research Centre in Gerenzano.
Claudio Quarta, Chief Executive Officer of Biosearch Italia, commented: "We are extremely proud of the Company's achievements in 2002 at a financial, corporate and product level. The Company's landmark merger agreement with Versicor will create a global leader in the field of anti-infectives. We are particularly satisfied with the Phase II results for Dalbavancin and the start of Phase III clinical trials. The financial results were in line with expectations."
Biosearch Italia SpA (Bloomberg: BOSHF; Reuters: BIO.MI) is a leading Italian biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development, production and eventually marketing of new antibiotics for the treatment of infectious diseases caused by multi-resistant micro-organisms (bacteria and fungi). Biosearch's discovery strategy is based on the high-throughput screening of its large and diversified library of microbial extracts, which is continuously expanding. Its integrated approach encompasses all activities leading to the isolation of a drug candidate, including target identification and assay set up, chemical, microbiological and analytical profiling, bioinformatics process development and supply of active ingredients. Biosearch's most advanced products are Dalbavancin and Ramoplanin, both in Phase III, and BI-acne, in Phase I clinical development.
YTD Dec. YTD Dec. Consolidated Consolidated
BIOSEARCH ITALIA SPA 2002 2001 02 01
000 Euro
NET INVESTED CAPITAL 34,363 31,771 26,083 27,229
NET FINANCIAL POSITION 94,440 109,378 101,125 112,788
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY 128,803 141,149 127,208 140,017
NET SALES 6,468 8,874 6,259 8,849
Operating Costs :
Research &
Development (9,661) (15,417) (9,661) (15,417)
Production (2,933) (1,053) (3,398) (1,969)
Corporate, General
& Adm. Exp. (5,682) (3,295) (5,631) (3,295)
GROSS PROFIT (11,808) (10,891) (12,431) (11,832)
Depreciation &
Amortization (3,594) (3,723) (3,836) (3,944)
Other Accruals (2) 0 (3) 0
OPERATING PROFIT (15,404) (14,614) (16,270) (15,776)
Net Financial
Income/Charges 2,491 4,338 2,875 4,480
Prudential Devaluation
of short term financial
Activities (77) (892) (77) (892)
Net Extraordinary Items
& Tax 644 22 662 (25)
NET LOSS (12,346) (11,146) (12,809) (12,214)
This release can be found in its entirety at: http://reports.huginonline.com/893842/114302.pdf